Practicing German Adjectives in Everyday Conversations

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Have you ever wanted to start a conversation in German but didn’t have enough adjectives to
express yourself?

Starting or continuing a conversation in German requires the basic building blocks of all languages—words—and the most detailed and artistic of all types of words: adjectives.

Here’s the good news: German adjectives can make sense.

To help you learn the most important ones, I searched through a frequency list of the top 500 German words.

I sorted them by how they’re used in the real world. As a result, here are nine themed conversations containing some of the most frequently used German adjectives to practice describing your everyday life in German.

Let’s dive right in!

8 Most Common German Color Adjectives

Adjectives List

Wortschatz über Farben (“vocabulary about colors”)

• “Blue” – Blau
• “Brown” – Braun
• “Dark” – Dunkel
• “Gray” – Grau
• “Green” – Grün
• “Red” – Rot
• “White” – Weiß
• “Yellow” – Gelb

You can learn more German colors in this article!

Gespräch 1: Farben – “Conversation 1: Colors”

Two close friends, Anton and Josef, have met again after a long time apart, but Josef has hurt his eye in a cleaning accident. Anton asks Josef about what happened to him, and they begin talking about how their hair can change colors.

Anton: Krass! Geht’s dir gut? Wann hast du ein blaues Auge bekommen?
“Anton: Wow, is it going well for you? When have you gotten a ‘black’ eye?” (Note 1)

Josef: Ich habe mich versehentlich mit dem Besen geschlagen, als ich gestern geputzt habe. Seit wann werden deine Haare grau?
“Josef: I accidentally hit myself with the broom when I was cleaning yesterday. Since when has your hair started turning gray?”

Anton: Es ist dann eine Weile her. Zumindest ist es noch nicht weiß!
“Anton: It really has been a while then. At least it’s not yet white!” (Note 2)

Josef: Helles Haar könnte tatsächlich zu dir passen. Ich habe darüber nachgedacht, meine Haare rot zu färben.
“Josef: Light hair could really suit you. I have thought about dying my hair red.”

Anton: Du siehst gut aus, mit dunklen Haaren, also mach es. Bist du gelangweilt von deinem aktuellen Look?
“Anton: You look good with dark hair, so do it. Are you bored with your current look?”

Josef: Ja, meine Haare waren für immer braun, aber ich möchte sie nicht hell wie gelb oder grün färben.
“Josef: Yes, my hair seems to be forever brown, but I would not like it to not be bright like yellow or green.”

Notes on Colors

• (1) German-speakers literally say someone with a dark, injured eye has a “blue eye” instead of a “black eye” as in English. The color “black” in German is called schwarz. Blau changes to blaues, because the word for “the eye” in German is a grammatically neuter noun – das Auge.
• (2) Noch does not truly mean “not,” but rather emphasizes the word it’s directly placed by. Its meaning is closer to “yet” or “still.”

20 German Adjectives for Describing Appearances

Adjectives List

Wortschatz über Aussehen (“vocabulary about appearances”)

• “Beautiful” or “pretty” – Schön
• “Big” or “Tall” – Groß
• “Fat” – Fett
• “High” or “Tall” – Hoch
• “Huge” – Riesig
• “Light” (in terms of “weight”) – Leicht
• “Long” – Lange
• “New” – Neu
• “Old” – Alt
• “Round” – Runde
• “Sharp” (or spicy as in food with a hot taste) – Scharf
• “Short” – Kurz
• “Small” – Klein
• “Soft” – Weich
• “Thick” (can also mean fat depending on how its used) – Dick
• “Thin” – Dünn
• “Tiny” – Winzig
• “Ugly” – Hässlich
• “Wide” – Breit
• “Young” – Jung

Gespräch 2: Aussehen – “Conversation 2: Appearances”

Paula and her significant other, Stefan, are at a furniture store shopping for a new bed. They have several children, including a small three-year-old daughter who worries often. She often sleeps with them at night when she’s worried or scared. Considering this, Paula and Stefan want to choose a bed that is comfortable, attractive and safe.

Paula: Wie wäre es mit diesem Bett? Es ist ganz anders als unser altes Bett.
“Paula: How about this bed? It is completely different from our old bed.”

Stefan: Zuallererst ist es hässlich. Aber ich mache mir Sorgen, dass es zu groß und scharf ist. Unsere Kinder werden sich verletzen, wenn sie uns nachts unweigerlich anschließen.
“Stefan: First of all, it’s ugly. But I’m more worried that it’s too big and sharp. Our kids would hurt themselves when they inevitably join us at night.” (Note 1)

Paula: Emilia ist ziemlich jung und winzig. Ich möchte kein Bett, das zu kurz oder lang ist. Das breite Bett dort drüben ist weich und schön. Es ist auch nicht zu klein.
“Paula: Emilia is rather young and tiny. I would like no bed that is too short or long. The wide bed over there is soft and pretty. It is also not too small.”

Stefan: Es könnte unsere beste Option sein. Dieses neue Bett ist im Vergleich zu unserem alten riesig und es sieht so aus, als könnte der dünne Rahmen immer noch unsere dicken Decken und fetten Kissen halten. Was denkst du?
“Stefan: It could be our best option. This new bed is huge compared to our old bed and it seems that the thin frame could still hold our thick blankets and fat pillows. What do you think?”

Paula: Es sollte leicht genug sein, um uns im Haus zu bewegen, und es ist nicht zu breit, damit wir es durch die Tür passen können. Der Preis ist etwas zu hoch, aber der Rahmen hat runde Ecken, damit die Kinder nicht verletzt werden.
“Paula: It should be light enough to fit into our house, and it’s not too wide, so it could still pass through the door. The price is somewhat too high, but the frame has round corners, so the kids would not get hurt.”

Stefan: Ja! Lass es uns kaufen.
“Stefan: Yeah! Let’s buy it.”

Notes on Appearances

• (1) Unweigerlich means “inevitably,” and can be broken apart just like a lot of English adjectives can be. For example:
• Un = “Not”
• Weigern = “to refuse”
• Lich = “-ly”

Doing this may mislead you at times, because putting these words together, you could assume that unweigerlich means “to do something without refusing” when it really means “inevitably.” However, this method still gives you background information about the word, which in turn helps predict the meaning of the word and remember it.

15 Adjectives to Describe Ability in German

Adjective List

Wortschatz über Fähigkeit (“vocabulary about ability”)

• “Bad” – Schlecht
• “Capable” – Fähig
• “Cheap” – Billig
• “Clear” – Klar
• “Difficult” – Schwierig
• “Easy” – Einfach
• “Expensive” – Teuer
• “Good” – Gut
• “Poor” – Arm
• “Quick or fast” – Schnell
• “Really” – Wirklich
• “Rich” – Reich
• “Slow” – Langsam
• “Strong” – Stark
• “Weak” – Schwach

Gespräch 3: Fähigkeit – “Conversation 3: Ability”

Axel and his uncle, Helmut, are playing basketball on the sidewalk. Axel doubts his ability to be good at basketball, so he asks his uncle whether he believes that he can someday be a professional basketball player. Uncle Helmut reassures Axel that he definitely can and that it’s his choice to become one or not.

Axel: Glaubst du wirklich, ich könnte eines Tages ein professioneller Basketballspieler sein, Onkel?
“Axel: Do you really believe I could be a professional basketball player one day, uncle?”

Onkel Helmut: Absolut. Es ist klar, dass du Talent hast und hart arbeitest. Du lernst auch schnell.
“Uncle Helmut: Absolutely. It is clear that you have talent and work hard. You also learn quickly.”

Axel: Aber ich bin so schwach und langsam! Und die Techniken und Übungen zu lernen, ist ziemlich schwierig. Wir sind auch arm, also können wir uns nicht einmal einen echten Korb leisten.
“Axel: But I am so weak and slow! And learning the techniques and exercises is rather difficult. We are also poor, so we can’t even afford a real basket.”

Onkel Helmut: Du wirst dich wirklich davon abhalten lassen, Kleiner? Natürlich wird es nicht einfach sein und du wirst nicht für immer gleich bleiben. Du wirst eines Tages stark und schnell sein. Nur weil du reich bist, heißt das auch nicht, dass du fähig bist. Du hast die Fähigkeit, gut im Basketball zu sein, aber ob du gut darin sein willst, liegt bei dir.
“Uncle Helmut: Are you really going to let that stop you, kiddo? Naturally, it won’t always be easy and you will not stay the same forever. You will one day be strong and fast. Just because you’re rich doesn’t also mean that you are capable. You have the ability to be good at basketball, but whether you will be good depends on you.”

Axel: Ja, danke, alter Mann. Ich finde es immer noch schlecht, dass die Körbe so teuer sind.
“Axel: Yeah, thanks old man. I still find it bad that the baskets are so expensive though.”

Onkel Helmut: Die Dinge sind heutzutage sicherlich nicht billig, aber ich werde meine Freundin Marie fragen. Sie ist gut darin, Dinge zu finden, die spottbillig sind.
“Uncle Helmut: Things are surely not cheap nowadays, but I will ask my friend Marie. She is good at finding things dirt cheap.” (Note 1)

Notes on Ability

• (1) Instead of saying “dirt cheap,” German-speakers literally say “mockery cheap”.

Working with Nouns, Numbers, and Grammatical Gender

There are three grammatical genders for nouns in German: feminine, masculine, and neuter. German nouns usually have two forms—plural or singular—as well. Yet, grammatical gender does not reflect the biological gender of the object—it simply tells you which ending to use with the word.

The Grammatical Loyalty of a German Adjective

A German adjective is loyal to and matches the noun it describes. This means an adjective adds detail to or explains a noun, and must reflect the grammatical gender and number of this noun.

A German adjective is placed next to the noun and conjugates according to the grammatical gender and specificity of the noun it describes. Masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural nouns react differently to the grammatical rules of strong and weak adjective endings.

Let’s learn a little more about this.

Grammatical Cases and German Adjective Endings

Strong Ending Vs. Weak Ending

If the noun that a German adjective describes is not specific, or in other words, does not use an indefinite article (“a” or “an”) or does not have a determiner (“this”, “our”, “any”, etc.), it has a strong ending.

If the noun that the German adjective describes is specific, so uses a definite article (“the”) or a determiner (“this”, “our”, “any”, etc.), then it follows the weak ending rules.

Strong and weak endings of German adjectives also change depending on the category of grammar rules or grammatical case it uses. There are four basic grammatical rule cases in German: nominative, dative, accusative, or genitive.

Possessive adjectives (mein, dein, Ihr, etc.) in German noticeably follow these complex rules and change depending on the grammatical gender and case of the nouns they describe. Meanwhile, predicate adjectives, a grand exception, follow the German verbs (sein, bleiben, and werden). German predicate adjectives do not change no matter which noun you use them to describe. Examples of predicative adjectives include: ruhig, lustig, and riesig. Did you notice that predicate adjectives usually end in -ig in German?

If you would like a step-by-step guide, learning tips, or German content recommendations for practicing the German language, then check this out! Here are 12 Effective Tips for learning German along with some resources that might help you in your German learning journey .

When Should You Conjugate German Adjectives?

German adjectives are technically always conjugated, because all adjectives in German have been assigned endings. The ending assigned might not change the way the German adjective looks, like the predicate adjective riesig, but it’s still considered to be conjugated. When conjugating your adjective, consider two factors:
What is the case of the adjective? Is the adjective describing the subject, object or position of something in the sentence?
Is the adjective describing a noun? If so, is the noun grammatically feminine, neuter, or masculine?

Check out the complete guide to German adjective endings if you would like more help with grammatical rules or conjugating German adjectives.

In the end, here’s the deal. Adjectives contribute so much information to a sentence, so mastering them can really add color and charm to your vocabulary.