– you have already seen on my blog, and today the next step is German adjectives, or rather, a summary of the most used ones.

Learning the most common foreign words first is the way to quickly master the language. Although dictionaries consist of tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of words, in our daily lives we use only a small part of them... But more on this another time. Now let's plunge into the world of German adjectives.

Below are German adjectives with simple examples of their use.

German adjectives: 60 of the most important ones!

groß- big

Unsere Familie bewohnt ein großes Haus. – Our family lives in a big house.

Schnell- fast

Mein Herz schlägt schnell. – My heart is beating fast.

lecker delicious

Die Großmutter kocht zu Mittag einen leckeren Borschtsch.– Grandma is preparing delicious borscht for lunch.

hoch-high

Ein hoch gewachsener Sportler betrat die Turnhalle.– A tall athlete entered the gym.

tief-deep
In den Bergen fanden wir einen tiefen See.– We found a deep lake in the mountains.

dumm- silly

Stell mir keine dummen Fragen. – Don't ask me stupid questions.

hungrig-hungry

Mein Sohn ist sehr hungrig. – My son is very hungry.

reich- rich

Sie hat reiche Eltern.– She has rich parents.

arm-poor

Der Schriftsteller wurde in einer armen Bauernfamilie geboren.– The writer was born into a poor peasant family.

heiß- hot

Warum trinkst du den Kaffee nicht? – Er ist noch heiß.– Why don’t you eat coffee? - He's still hot.

laut– loud

Laute Musik stört mich beim Lesen. – Loud music prevents me from reading.

fertig– ready
Das Mittagessen ist schon fertig, setzt euch an den Tisch. - Lunch is ready, sit down at the table.

traurig- sad

Abends hört sie gern traurige Lieder über eine unglückliche Liebe.– In the evenings she likes to listen to sad songs about unhappy love.

schmutzig-filthy

Wasch dir deine Hände, sie sind schmutzig. - Wash your hands, they are dirty.

lang-long

Sie hatte eine langärmlige Bluse an. – She was wearing a long-sleeve blouse.

geizig-greedy

Mir gefällt dein Freund nicht, er ist geizig.– I don’t like your friend, he’s greedy.

flüssig– liquid

Erdöl ist ein flüssiger Brennstoff. – Oil is a liquid fuel.

gesund-healthy

Mir scheint, du bist noch nicht völlig gesund.“It seems to me that you are not completely healthy yet.”

interesting- interesting

Im Fernsehen lief eine interessante Sendung.– There was an interesting program on TV.

krank- sick
Der kranke Junge weiß, dass seine Krankheit sehr gefährlich ist. – The sick boy knows that his illness is very dangerous.

kurz- short

Ich las den kurzen Brief von meinem Bruder schnell durch. “I quickly read my brother’s short letter.

schön- Beautiful

Wo hast du diesen schönen Ring gekauft. – Where did you buy this beautiful ring?

leicht – easy

Was für einen leichten Koffer du hast!– What a light suitcase you have!

faul- lazy

Sascha war zwar ein begabter, aber fauler Schüler.– Sasha was a capable but lazy student.

neugirig – curious
Sie haben aber ein neugieriges Kind!– What a curious child you have!

klein- small

Aus den kleinen Äpfel habe ich Kompott gekocht. – I made compote from small apples.

langsam slow

Das war ein sehr langsamer Zug. – It was a very slow train.

jung - young

Als junges Mädchen begann sie hier zu arbeiten. – She started working here as a young girl.

neu – new

Sie haben ein ganz neues Auto.- They have a completely new car.

gefährlich- dangerous

Die Reise nach Afrika war gefährlich.– Traveling to Africa was dangerous.

schlecht – bad

Gestern hatte er schlechte Laune.– Yesterday he was in a bad mood.

richtig correct

Er gab eine richtige Einschätzung der Ereignisse in Deutschland.“He gave a correct assessment of the events taking place in Germany.

einfach – simple

Das ist eine einfache Frage.– This is a very simple question.

leer- empty

Sie fürchtete sich in dem leeren Haus.“She was scared in an empty house.”

fruh– early

Mir gefallen die früheren Erzählungen von Lermontov. – I like Lermontov's early stories.

selten, rar- rare

Mein Bekannter hat einen seltenen Namen. – A friend of mine has a rare name.

frisch- fresh

In diesem Laden ist das Gemüse immer frisch.– In this store, vegetables are always fresh.

hell- light

Ihre Tochter hat langes helles Haar.– Her daughter has long blond hair.

ernst – serious

Der neue Kollege ist ein sehr ernster Mensch.– The new colleague is a very serious person.

langweilig- boring

Dieses langweilige Buch habe ich nicht bis zum Ende gelesen.- I didn't finish reading this delicious book.

schwach- weak

Der Patient ist nach der Operation noch sehr schwach. – The patient is still very weak after the operation.

German adjectives: continue

ruhig – calm

Sei ruhig! – Be calm! / Calm down!

trocken - dry

Der Sommer war trocken und niederschlagsfrei.– The summer was dry, without precipitation.

glücklich- happy

Arbeit macht mich glücklich.– Work makes me happy.

hart - solid

Die Erde war hart wie Stein.– The ground was hard as stone.

dunkel - dark

Zu dieser hellen Bluse passt ein dunkler Rock.– This light blouse will go well with a dark skirt.

warm- warm

Es wehte ein warmer Wind und der Schnee begann zu schmelzen.“A warm wind blew and the snow began to melt.

dick thick

Obst macht nicht dick.– Fruits don’t make you fat.

dunn- thin

Das Mädchen hat dünne Arme und Beine. – The girl has thin arms and legs.

schwer - difficult

Meine Großeltern lebten in einer schweren Zeit.“My grandparents lived in difficult times.

schwierig- heavy
Die Frau trug eine schwierige Tasche mit Lebensmitteln. – The woman was carrying a heavy bag of groceries.

eng- narrow

Durch einen schmalen Korridor gingen wir ins Zimmer.“We walked along a narrow corridor into a room.

klug - smart

Die Studentin ist ziemlich klug.– The student is quite smart.

müde – tired

Er schien sehr mude aus. – He seemed very tired.

kalt – cold

Im Februar weht der kalte Nordwind.– In February, a cold north wind blows.

gut – gut good

Trotz des Alters hat er ein gutes Gedächtnis. – Despite his age, he has a good memory.

ehrlich-honest

Alle hielten ihn für einen ehrlichen Menschen.“Everyone considered him an honest man.”

sauber- clean

Bring mir bitte ein sauberes Glas.- Please bring me a clean glass.

breit wide

In den 1. Stock führte eine breite Treppe.“A wide staircase led to the second floor.

wichtig- important

Das ist eine sehr wichtige Frage. – This is a very important question.

treu- loyal

Ein treuer Freund lässt dich nicht im Stich.– A true friend will not leave you in trouble.

möglich – possible

Man muss alle möglichen Varianten diskutieren. – We need to discuss all possible options.

lieber, teuer – Expensive

Liebe Papa! Ich gratuliere dir zum Geburtstag! – Dear Dad! I wish you a happy birthday!

Sie kaufte sich einen teuren Ring.– She bought herself an expensive ring.

bekannt - famous

Ein bekannter Schriftsteller fuhr nach Amerika. – A famous writer left for America.

tot– dead

Die Kinder fanden im Garten eine tote Katze.— The children found a dead cat in the garden.

niedrig- short

Die Gäste saßen an einem niedrigen Tisch. – The guests were sitting at a low table.

notwengig– necessary

Die notwendigen Bücher könnt ihr in der Bibliothek bekommen.– You can borrow the necessary books from the library

einsam- lonely

In einer Großstadt fühlt er sich einsam. – In a big city he feels lonely.

letzter – last

Der Student beantwortete die letzte Frage richtig.– The student answered the last question correctly.

toll, großartig, wunderschön- beautiful

Meine Freundin ist eine großartige Mutter. – My friend is a wonderful mother.

angenehm - nice

Deine Frau hat eine angenehme Stimme. – Your wife has a very pleasant voice.

stark- strong

Der Kranke wird seine starken Kopfschmerzen nicht los.– The patient has severe headaches that do not go away

lustig- funny
Dieser Schriftsteller schreibt lustige Erzählungen für Kinder.

alt – old

Seine alten Eltern leben auf dem Lande. – His old parents live in the village.

dringend urgent

Er bekam ein dringendes Telegramm von seiner Frau. – He received an urgent telegram from his wife.

seltsam – strange

Der Film hat bei mir einen seltsamen Eindruck hinterlassen. – The film left me with a strange impression.

So this is the very basics. And the foundation must be firmly fixed, otherwise the house will collapse - before you start using it. You should be able to translate these German adjectives both from Russian into German and vice versa. So practice.

The most important adjectives include the names of flowers; I did not mention them here - since they are included in a separate list, which you will find

Well, I don’t recommend dwelling on these adjectives. This is just the first step, and if you have established it well, then you should expand your vocabulary further. For example, find out what German adjectives are used to describe fruits and vegetables - they are

I.G. Knyazeva, German language teacher, MBOU Secondary School No. 15 Art. Rogovskaya

Types of adjective declension in German

An adjective placed before a noun is inflected using a mixed, weak or strong inflection. It depends on what comes before the adjective.

Weak declension of adjectives

If an adjective is preceded by a definite article or a pronoun that changes like a definite article ( jeder - every, dieser - this, jener - that) then the adjective receives weak endings: -e or -en

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter gender	Mn. number

Thus, in the weak declension of German adjectives, you need to remember 5 in (3 o in Nominativ and 2 e in Akkusativ), and the remaining endings in both singular and plural - en.

The weak declension also changes adjectives in the plural (i.e. -en) after possessive pronouns and the pronouns alle and kein:

N. meine neuen Hefte
G. meiner neuen Hefte
D. meinen neuen Hefte
A. meine neuen Hefte

Strong declension of adjectives

If there is nothing in front of the adjective, then the adjective itself takes the ending of the definite article, that is, it is declined according to the strong declension. The exception is Genitiv for the masculine and neuter gender, where adjectives receive a weak ending -en:

Cases	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter gender	Mn. number

After viele and cardinal numerals, adjectives are declined in German using the strong declension:

N. viele gute Bucher
G. vieler gutter Bucher
D. vielen guten Buchern
A. viele gute Bucher

Mixed declension of adjectives

If the adjective is preceded by an indefinite article or a possessive pronoun ( mein , dein , sein , ihr , unser , EUER , Ihr ), then the adjective in Nominativ and Akkusativ receives the ending of the definite article, and in Genitiv and Dativ the ending -en. Adjectives after a negative pronoun are also declined kein

Cases	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter gender	Mn. number
	mein guter Freund	unsere alte Schule	kein dickes buch	meine neuen Hefte
	meines guten Freundes	unserer alten Schule	keines dicken buch	meiner neuen Hefte
	meinem guten Freund	unserer alten Schule	keinem dicken buch	meinen neuen Heften
	meinen guten Freund	unsere alte Schule	kein dickes buch	meine neuen Hefte

Plural after kein and possessive pronouns - ending adjectives - en .

If the adjective is substantivized, i.e. acts as a noun (for example: acquaintance), then it still obeys all the rules of a regular adjective, only it is written with a capital letter. The declension of such an adjective in German depends on what comes before it: a definite article, an indefinite article, or nothing.

Cases	Weak cl.	Mixed cl.	Strong cl.	Plural number

Seems very difficult. Those who have studied English suffer especially: as you know, adjectives in it are not declined at all. However, if you compare the German language with the Russian language, then it turns out that everything is not so scary.

It is carried out in three main types, and the first has three more varieties: hard, soft and mixed declination. The latter has three more types depending on the last consonant in the root.

A detailed familiarization with the rules of the Russian language helps most language learners understand the German declension of adjectives faster and easier. After such an acquaintance, the German language seems simpler and more understandable, and there is even sympathy for those who are forced to learn this “terrible” Russian.

There is one fundamental difference: if in Russian the declension of adjectives depends on the word itself (on its gender, number and case), then in German, in addition to this, it also depends on the article, which, as is known, has no analogues in Russian.

The declension of German adjectives can be divided into three types:

1. Weak - it is really “weak”, the form of the adjective almost does not change. This inflection is used after the definite article - basically the article changes.
2. Strong declension - after and pronouns meaning some kind of “uncertainty”.
3. Mixed declension - if there is no article.

Here we will look at the weak declension of adjectives

Its rules are quite simple. As you can see in the table, most adjectives end in -en, the rest end in -e. This type of declension is characteristic only of adjectives that are used after:

• After pronouns that are similar to the definite article: diser (this), jener (that), jeder (every), welcher (which), solcher (that), mancher (other), derselbe (that one), derjenige (that one). Of course, these also vary by birth. Here they are all given in the masculine gender.

As you study this information, pay attention to how the endings of certain articles and nouns change. As you can see, the declension of adjectives is the easiest to remember. Another important point is the “Plural” column. In this number, adjectives that come after the following words are declined according to the weak type:

• Definite article (der, die, das).
• The same pronouns mentioned above, and some others. Of course, these plural pronouns will have other forms: diese (these), jede (those), welche (which), alle (everyone), beide (both), solche (such), manche (some), dieselben (those the very ones), diejenigen (the same ones), sämtliche (all).
• And also (note!) after the pronoun kein and such as mein (my), unser (our), as well as other possessive pronouns. Here a logical question arises: how are singular adjectives declined after such pronouns? For example, how would it be meine schöne Frau (my beautiful woman) in Answer: in any reference book, look at the table of mixed declension, because after these pronouns there are singular adjectives. In number they tend to be of the mixed type.

  	m. genus	and. genus	Wed genus	Plural
  N	Der alt e Mann	Die schon e Frau	Das neu e Haus	Die breit en Fenster
  G	Des alt en Mann es	Der schön en Frau	Des neu en Houses	Der breit en Fenster
  D	Dem alt en Mann	Der schön en Frau	Dem neu en Haus	Den breit en Fenster n
  A	Den alt en Mann	Die schon e Frau	Das neu e Haus	Die breit en Fenster

After this, look at other tables in any German language reference book:

1. in the singular in the absence of an article (strong declension).
2. Table of declension of singular adjectives after the indefinite article (mixed declension).
3. It is also worth looking separately at the declension of adjectives in although it can also belong to the two types already mentioned earlier: weak and strong. After the indefinite (weak declination - we have already given it in the table) and the definite article (strong declination).
4. Declension

Please note that there are regularities in the declensions of adjectives: somewhere, one way or another, there must be endings of the definite article. In the table above, the adjectives are already preceded by the definite article. Consequently, adjectives no longer need their endings, which is why the rules of the weak declension are so simple. And vice versa, with a strong declension, when there is no article at all before adjectives, the endings of the adjectives change like the endings of the definite article.

And some tips on how to remember these dry tables:

1. Learn in detail the declination of the definite article.
2. Read this article and look through the tables in the reference book carefully once and take the test - there are plenty of them on the Internet. Once you have passed or failed the adjective form assignments, you will feel the need to remember it all and will also know where to look at adjective inflections more closely. The secret of any effective learning: first the problem, then its solution. And not vice versa.
3. Take it in German. This can be any text on a topic that interests you with parallel translation. Try to compile all the declination tables yourself, and then compare them with the reference book. It will take time, but after this you will most likely no longer need to look at the reference book at all to clarify how this or that adjective is declined.

Adjectives in German are declined if and only if they come before a noun:

Krasn th table - rot er Tisch
red wow stolU - rot em Tisch

There are three types of adjective declension:

1. Strong declination.
2. Weak declination.
3. Mixed declension.

How can one understand which type of adjective is inclined in a particular case?

1. If an adjective comes before a noun without an accompanying word, then it is inflected according to the strong type.
2. If there is an accompanying word, but it ambiguously shows gender, number and case, then the adjective is declined according to the mixed type.
3. If there is an accompanying word and it clearly shows gender, number and case, then the adjective is declined according to the weak type.

Strong declination

IMPORTANT!
In the plural, the words: Viele (many), Einige (several), Wenige (few), Zweie, dreie usw (two, three, etc.) acquire a generic/case ending and do not affect the ending of the adjective ( both parts of speech end with the definite article):

Viel e gut e Eltern (Nom.) - many good parents
Viel e gut e Eltern (Akk.) - many good parents
Wenig en gut en Eltern (Dat.) - to few good parents
Einig er gut er Eltern (Gen.) - some good parents

Weak declension of adjectives

IMPORTANT!

1. In the plural, after the words alle (all), sämtliche (meaning alle) and beide (both) in all cases, adjectives have a neutral ending<-en>, while alle and beide also receive a case plural ending (the ending of the definite article).

Alle mein en Freunde (Nom.)
Alle dein en Freunde (Akk.)
All en dein en Freunde (Dat.)
All er sein en Freunden (Gen.)

2. The definite article, demonstrative pronoun and interrogative pronoun are mutually exclusive parts of speech and are not used simultaneously with the same noun:

Der gute Vater - Diese gute Mutter (correct)
Der dieser gute Vater - Jede die gute Mutter ( Not Right)

3. Different parts of speech can act as an accompanying word, but all of them clearly show the gender and number of the noun already in Nominativ.

NOTE!
In compound demonstrative pronouns (derselbe, derjenige...) the definite article is merged with the demonstrative word, which means both parts of the word are declined. In this case, the article part is declined as a definite article, and the adjective part as an adjective:

D er selb e gut e Film - the same good film
D ie selb en gut en Filme - the same good films

Mixed declension

IMPORTANT!
In the plural, the indefinite article EIN is not used.

Declension of homogeneous adjectives

Homogeneous adjectives standing in front of a noun are declined in the same way:

Ein klein es neu es Haus / Das klein e neu e Haus
Klein e neu e Hauser/Die klein en neu en Hauser

Declension of compound adjectives

When an adjective consists of several (it is a multi-root or compound word), the ending is placed only at the end of the word:

Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlich es Thema - strong declension
das mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlich e Thema - weak declension
ein mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlich es Thema - mixed declension

Declension of adjectives before substantivized adjectives

If in a sentence the adjective name describes a substantivized adjective (Der Deutsche, Die Kranke, Die Verwandten), then the ending of the definition is selected according to the general rule: either the adjective itself (definition) or the word accompanying it must determine the gender, number and case of the noun. Gender, number and case are shown once in a phrase. In this case, the substantivized adjective receives neutral endings<-е>or<-еn>:

Der Kranke - sick
Der arm e Krank e- poor patient
Ein e arm e Krank e- (some) poor patient
ein es arm en Krank en(Genitiv, “Whose?”) - one poor patient (m.r.)
ein er arm en Krank en(Genitiv, “Whose?”) - one poor patient (f.)

Exception! Singular Dativ. If the gender shows an adjective (that is, we have a strong declension), then the substantivized form will have a neutral ending:

For some reason, the declension of adjectives is considered a difficult topic. “There are so many endings...” - and the German language is hopelessly compromised. Have you ever encountered Russian case endings? Well, form the instrumental case form from the words “your two clean sleeves”! What? Did you realize it right away? Exactly, “with your two clean sleeves”... Children, by the way, get confused!

Declension, inflection, is an ancient and venerable feature of Indo-European languages. The English language has actually lost its declension, but German retains what existed in all ancient Germanic languages: the declension of adjectives in two types - strong And weak.

By strong declination an adjective without an article changes, for example:

	units m.r.	units w.r.	units s.r.
im.p.	gut er Freund	gut e Idea	gut es Buch
kind.p.	gut en Freundes	gut er Idea	gut en Buches
dat.p.	gut em Freund	gut er Idea	gut em Buch
wine.p.	gut en Freund	gut e Idea	gut es Buch

You can see that the basis of the declination here is the same long-known declination of the definite article: der...dem-den, die-der-der-die, das...dem-das. But you’ll have to say goodbye to the genitive case form “des” in the declension of adjectives: in the genitive case singular. masculine and neuter adjectives with any type of declension have an ending -en.

Why does the adjective behave this way? Because there are four cases in the German language, and the language requires them to be distinguished. If an adjective appears without an article, it is forced to take on this function and convey the corresponding case with its endings. This is a strong declination.

What if the adjective appears with an article? Well, let's start with the definite article. Look what happens:

der gut e Freund	die gut e Idea	das gut e Buch
des gut en Freundes	der gut en Idea	des gut en Buches
dem gut en Freund	der gut en Idea	dem gut en Buch
den gut en Freund	die gut e Idea	das gut e Buch

Yes, this is just some kind of resort!.. Behind the article, the adjective feels like behind a stone wall and operates with only two endings: -e And -en. Why bother if the article (or demonstrative pronoun) quite definitely denotes cases? That's what it is weak declination adjective

You may ask: why then does the adjective in the weak form have no ending? -en in all cases? The point is that you still need to distinguish between the singular and the plural. Singular (imp.) - der gut e Freund, plural - die gut en Freunde; in the only - die gut e Idee, plural - die gut en Idean. By the way, according to the weak declension, adjectives of all three genders and in all cases have the same ending in the plural: -en. Now you will see this for yourself in the tables.

An adjective with a definite article is translated as “this/that”, etc. - die gute Idee - this is a good idea das gute Buch - this is a good book etc.

In addition to strong and weak, there is also a mixed declination (see table below). In fact, this just means the declension of singular adjectives with the indefinite article ein, as well as the possessive pronouns mein, dein, etc. and the negation of kein. In indirect cases we will see a universal weak ending there -en, because case will be indicated by the article forms eines, einem, einen. And in the singular, the article ein can introduce a noun of both masculine and neuter gender - and therefore a distinction needs to be made here using the endings of the adjective: ein gut er Freund, but ein gut es Haus. And of course, eine gute Idee. But, I repeat, mixed declension is only relevant for the singular. This is explained simply: in the plural there is no indefinite article.

Strong declination

Singular. Adjective without article

adjective after words: etwas - A little, viel - a lot of, wenig - few, genug - enough; also after manch - other, some, welch - Which (if they perform without endings)

	m.r.	w.r.	s.r.
im.p.	schön er Tag	schön e Frau	schön es Haus
kind.p.	schön en Tags	schön er Frau	schön en Houses
dat.p.	schön em Tag	schön er Frau	schön em Haus
wine.p.	schön en Tag	schön e Frau	schön es Haus

Plural. Adjective without article

adjective after numerals: zwei - two, drei - three; also after the words viele - many, einige - some, mehrere - some, several, wenige - few

	m.r.	w.r.	s.r.
im.p.	schön e Tage	schön e Frauen	schön e Hauser
kind.p.	schön er Tage	schön er Frauen	schön er Hauser
dat.p.	schön en Tagen	schön en Frauen	schön en Hausern
wine.p.	schön e Tage	schön e Frauen	schön e Hauser

Weak declination

Singular. Adjective with definite article

dieser - this, jener - That, jeder - every, solcher - such, welcher - Which, mancher - some, some, some

	m.r.	w.r.	s.r.
im.p.	der Schön e Tag	die schön e Frau	das Schön e Haus
kind.p.	des schön en Tags	der Schön en Frau	des schön en Houses
dat.p.	dem schön en Tag	der Schön en Frau	dem schön en Haus
wine.p.	den schön en Tag	die schön e Frau	das Schön e Haus

Plural. Adjective with definite article

adjective after pronouns: meine - my, deine - yours etc; after pronouns alle - All, beide - both, solche - such, welche - which, keine - none

	m.r.	w.r.	s.r.
im.p.	die schön en Tage/Frauen/Häuser
kind.p.	der Schön en Tage/Frauen/Häuser
dat.p.	den schön en Tagen/Frauen/Häusern
wine.p.	die schön en Tage/Frauen/Häuser

Mixed declension

Only singular number

adjective with indefinite article ein; also with possessive pronouns: mein, dein and negation kein

	m.r.	w.r.	s.r.
im.p.	ein schön er Tag	eine schön e Frau	ein schön es Haus
kind.p.	eines schön en Tags	einer schön en Frau	eines schön en Houses
dat.p.	einem schön en Tag	einer schön en Frau	einem schön en Haus
wine.p.	einen schön en Tag	eine schön e Frau	ein schön es Haus

Now a logical question: how to remember all these pronominal “viele-einige...” on the one hand, and “alle-beide...” on the other? The demonstrative pronoun dieser is so similar to the definite article der that they are easily combined into one group. It would be good to learn the rest by heart, but first you should keep in mind: viele schön e Tage (strong declination) - but alle schön en Tage (weak declination).

The pronouns viele and alle are used most often. Likewise, we often have to say meine, deine, Ihre (Freunde, Bücher, etc.). Therefore, be sure to remember: meine gut en Freunde.

In German the form viele - many is used where in Russian we are accustomed to seeing the adverb “many”. Wed:

• Da sind viele Studenten. - There are a lot of students there.
• Er hat viele probleme. - He has a lot of problems.