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The 50 most common German adjectives

By Dr Popkins Leave a Comment

Learning the most frequent German words is makes tactical sense when you’re starting to learn the language. Below, you’ll find a full list of the fifty most common German adjectives. Adjectives are words that describe what somebody or something is like, for example old, young, intelligent, red, tired. For example “Der Mann ist alt” (the man is old), “Das Buch ist neu” (The book is new).   

Like in English, they can come after a “linking” verb (like “be” or “become”), as in the examples we’ve just seen. Or they can stand immediately in front of the noun: eine schwarze Katz (a black cat).

There’s good news as you start learning (or revising) the most useful German adjectives: many are very similar to the English equivalents.

German adjectives
Dr P lists the 50 most useful German adjectives

How to learn the most important German adjectives  

Don’t learn the list of adjectives in a fixed order

Don’t learn the list of key German adjectives below in a set order, or you might end up needing the preceding adjective to trigger your recall for the next one. Instead, mix it up!

The forms in the list are the basic forms that you find after a verb. If you use an adjective before a noun, it has to have the right ending. You see, German adjectives “decline”. That’s to say the “endings” vary according to the “case” of the noun (that’s to say, to show the relationship of the noun that the adjective qualifies to other nouns in the phrase). For more on the case system (and the adjectival endings) check out my post The German Case System Made Simple.

Learn the adjectives in example phrases

It also helps to learn the adjectives in an example phrases. Context helps you remember. When the adjective is in front of a noun, learning a set phrase makes sure you’ve got the cases ending right too. As you read, listen and speak, collect sentences that contain examples of the adjective.  Remember, translations don’t map perfectly from English to German. Sometimes, a German adjective has several meanings in English (and the other way round). Sometimes a different adjective is the one “naturally” used in German (you wish somebody a “fine weekend” (schönes Wochenende) not a “good weekend” (gutes Wochenende)

Use flashcards in various ways to test yourself

A simple way to mix things up as you learn the adjectives is to make flashcards with the German adjective on one side and the English on the other. You can test yourself German to English and then (harder) English to German. Keep shuffling the cards!

You could also make flashcards with the German example phrase on one side and the English translation of the phrase on the other. That way you use the power of meaningful context to help you remember.

A further, very effective twist is to have the German phrase on both sides of the card but leaving the adjective out on the “test” side. Your task is to “fill in the gap”.

Make your own phrases using the adjective (and get feedback)

Try to make sentences of your own using your new adjectives. Model them on your example phrases and get feedback if you can from your teacher or language exchange partner.

Space out repetition and recall practice

Keep coming back to the adjectives and your illustrative sentences – you’ll forget them many times… ….until you don’t.  

Get lots and lots of exposure to German

Conscious vocab building is powerful, but it won’t get you fluent on its own. You must get lots of exposure to German too. Find a good beginner’s course, start listening to podcasts or YouTube aimed at learners and start reading simplified texts, even if, at first, there’s a lot you don’t understand. See how many of the most common German adjectives you can spot as you go and start to use them at every opportunity.

Viel Erfolg!

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The 50 most common German adjectives: a list

Here’s the basic German adjective list, to get you started.

1großbig, large, great
2gutgut
3neunew
4ganzwhole, all the
5erstefirst
6langlong
7wenigfew
8kleinsmall
9deutschGerman
10hochtall, high
11einfachsimple, easy
12altold
13gleichsame
14wichtigimportant
15letztelast
16eigenown
17genauexact
18spätlate
19kurzshort
20richtigcorrect, right
21starkstrong
22weitereadditional, further
23jungyoung
24schnellfast
25weitfar
26nächstenext
27klarclear
28verschiedendifferent, diverse
29schwerdifficult, heavy
30sichersafe, sure, certain
31bestimmtspecial, certain
32freifree (= not captive)
33leichteasy, light
34bekanntwell-known, famous
35schlechtbad
36einzigonly, single
37offenopen
38vollfull
39tiefdeep
40möglichpossible
41schönbeautiful
42falschwrong
43langsamslow
44schwierigdifficult, hard
45engnarrow
46normalnormal
47frühearly
48echtgenuine, real
49normalnormal
50rundround
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Filed Under: German vocabulary Tagged With: German adjectives, German Beginners, German vocabulary

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