How to form German adjectives
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Hide- 1.Simple adjectives in German
- 2.Derived adjectives in German
- 2.1.Prefixes of adjectives
- 2.2.Verbal roots of adjectives
- 2.3.Nominal roots of adjectives
- 2.4.Adverbial roots of adjectives
- 2.5.Roots from other adjectives
- 2.6.Suffixes of adjectives
- 3.Adjectives formed out of past or present participles in German
- 3.1.The present participle used as an adjective
- 3.2.The past participle used as an adjective
- 4.Compound adjectives in German
- 4.1.Compound adjectives made from nouns, verbs and other adjectives
- 5.Exercises
- 5.1.Exercise on the different roots of adjectives in German
Simple adjectives in German
In German, there are simple adjectives like e.g. colours, as well as derived adjectives, that were deduced from other words. You can call them descriptive adjectives, because they provide additional information about persons and (abstract) things.
- Das bequeme Sofa. (The comfortable sofa.)
- Der bittere Kaffee. (The bitter coffee.)
- Ein weißes Haus. (A white house.)
Some types of adjectives stay the same, but some of them you have to decline. Take a look at chapter for different types of adjectives for detailed information.
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Derived adjectives in German
Besides the simple adjectives there are also expanded adjectives, which can be generated by:
- adding a seperable prefix
- transforming a verb (verbal root)
- transforming a noun (nominal root)
- transforming an adverb (adverbial root)
- transforming another adjective (addjectival root)
- adding a seperable suffix
Prefixes of adjectives
The prefix just means before, so something will be right in front of the simple adjective. Prefixes are like short syllables added to a word. This are just some examples.
- ab - artig (abnormal)
- un - bequem (uncomfortable)
- wider - sprüchlich (contradictory)
- zer - legt (dissambled)
- ur - alt (age-old)
- grund - ehrlich (thoroughly honest)
Keep in mind, that some prefixes have a special meaning. For instance, the syllable un- often expresses the opposite of the original word (bequem = comfortable/unbequem = uncomfortable). Same case is with über- & unter-: überschätzt (overestimated) & unterschätzt (underestimated).
Verbal roots of adjectives
If a word has verbal roots, the adjective is directly derived from a verb.
| Prefix and verb | Example |
|---|---|
| an - dauern (to last) | Er fragt andauernd nach (He is constantly asking.) |
| aus - brechen (to escape) | der ausgebrochene Vogel (the escaped bird) |
| bei - liegen (to be enclosed) | die beiliegende Zeitschrift (the enclosed magazine) |
| auf - schließen (to open-up) | der aufgeschlossene Lehrer (the open-minded teacher) |
| er - weitern (to extend) | die erweiterten Öffnungszeiten (extended opening hours) |
| voll - enden (to complete) | ein vollendetes Manuskript (a completed manuscript) |
| zu - steigen (to board adter the trip has started) | die zugestiegenen Fahrgäste (passengers who have just boarded) |
Be careful with the meaning of a verbal adjective! Sometimes it changes its meaning, e.g. aufschließen (to open-up) and der aufgeschlossene Lehrer (the open-minded teacher). The teacher is not opened-up like a door, but an open-minded person.
Nominal roots of adjectives
As it is possible to deduce adjective from verbs, it is also possible to derive them from nouns.
| Noun | Example |
|---|---|
| das Gebilde (the formation) | der gebildete Ausschuss (the composed committee) |
| das Gefieder (the plumage) | das gefiederte Huhn (the plumaged chicken) |
| der Unsinn (the nonsense) | das unsinnige Gerede (the nonsense talk) |
| der Unmensch (the brute) | eine unmenschliche Aufgabe (an inhuman task) |
| die Unzahl (the countless number) | die unzähligen Fragen (the unnumerable questions) |
| der Durchbruch (the break through) | die durchbrochene Eisschicht (the ruptured layer of ice) |
| der Untergang (the downfall) | die untergangene Welt (the sunken world) |
Adverbial roots of adjectives
There is only one special case for adverbs to become adjectives. By using the ending -ig an adverb can be used as an adjective.
| Adverb and ending | Example |
|---|---|
| bald - ig (quick) | über eine baldige Antwort sind wir dankbar (an early reply will be oblige) |
| sofort - ig (instant) | mit sofortiger Wirkung (with immediate effect) |
| zweimal - ig (twice) | zweimalige Wiederholung (twice repeated) |
| rückwärt(s) - ig | rückwärtige Bebauung (rear development) |
| heut(e) - ig (contemporary) | das heutige Wetter (today's weather) |
Roots from other adjectives
Some adjectives might exist because two other adjectives have been linked to a new word stem. It can be done with (see first table), or without using an umlaut (second table).
| Adjective and ending | Example |
|---|---|
| faul + ig (putrid) | der faulige Apfel (the putrid apple) |
| rund + lich (roundish) | ein rundliches Gesicht (a roundish face) |
| viel + fach (multiple) | vielfach bewährt (multiple proven) |
| Adjective and ending | Example |
|---|---|
| voll + ig = völlig (completely) | völlig ausverkauft (completely sold out) |
| krank + lich = kränklich (sikish) | das kränkliche Mädchen (the sikish girl) |
| schwarz + lich = schwärzlich (blackish) | ein schwärzliches Kleid (a blackish dress) |
Suffixes of adjectives
Many words can be transformed into adjectives by adding a suffix, meaning that you add an additional ending to an existing word. By doing so, you can either transform verbs, nouns, adverbs or other adjectives into new adjectives.
| Adjective and suffix | Example |
|---|---|
| ess - bar (eatable) | Das Essen ist essbar. (The food is eatable.) |
| kleb - rig (sticky) | Der Fußboden ist klebrig. (The floor is sticky.) |
| beispiel - haft (exemplary) | ein beispielhafter Aufsatz (an exemplary essay) |
| alkohol - isch (alcoholic) | eine alkoholische Bowle (an alcoholic punch) |
| nachdenk - lich (thoughtful) | das nachdenkliche Mädchen (the thoughtful girl) |
| gewalt - sam (by violence) | Sie wurden gewaltsam befreit. (They were freed by violence.) |
Do not learn those endings by heart, but keep them in mind, because it might be helpful while learning new vocabulary.
Adjectives formed out of past or present participles in German
The participle is a special type of a word. To use it as an adjective, we have two different types of participles in German:
- The present participle (describes two simultaneous actions)
- The past participle (describes two actions didn't happen at the same time)
The present participle used as an adjective
This participle is used if you want to describe
- simultaneous actions
- or actions that are not finished yet
You can either put the participle in front of the noun (then it needs to be conjugated in accordance to fit to the noun), or behind the the noun (then the participle stays the same).
| Infinitive of the verb | Participle before the noun | Participle after the noun |
|---|---|---|
| singen (to sing) | Der singende Mann tanzte im Zimmer. (The singing man is dancing in the room.) | Der Mann tanzte singend im Zimmer. (The man danced singing in the room.) |
| schweigen(to keep silent) | Die schweigenden Kinder lesen. (The silent kids are reading.) | Die Kinder lesen schweigend. (The kids are reading silently.) |
| weinen (to cry) | Das weinende Kind liegt im Bett. (The crying child lies in bed.) | Das Kind liegt weinend im Bett. (The child lies crying in bed.) |
If you want to learn more about the characteristics and especially the conjugation of present participles in German, have a look at the chapter about German participles.
The past participle used as an adjective
The past participle is used to describe
activities that happen at different times
the circumstances in which an action happens
In German, there are different possibilities to construct the past participle. For instance by using prefixes or suffixes. For the exact construction of this, please habe a look at the chapter about German principles.
| Infinitive of the verb | Sentence with past participle |
|---|---|
| verlieren (to lose) | Endlich fand sie den verlorenen Schlüssel (Finally, she found the lost keys.) |
| kaufen (to buy) | Heute baue ich den neu gekauften Schrank auf. (Today I build the bought wardrobe.) |
| backen (to bake) | Ich teile den frisch gebackenen Kuchen. (I share the freshly baked cake.) |
As you can see in the examples, some things happened before (e.g. the keys got lost) and then the second happening occured afterwards.
Compound adjectives in German
In German it is possible to create new words by combining two other words. To learn more about compounds in German language, have a look at the chapter about compound nouns in German.
- berufstätig, compound of "der Beruf" und "tätig" (employed)
- umweltfreundlich, compound of "die Umwelt" und "freundlich" (eco-friendly)
The second word of these combinations is called the "primary word", as it determines the gender and number of a compound.
In English the words of the resulting word chain are typically seperated by a free space or hyphens, while in German the compounds normally appear as one word.
Compound adjectives made from nouns, verbs and other adjectives
Some compound words are formed by joining an adjective and a noun.
| Adjective | Noun | Compound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| konform | das System | systemkonform | in confirmity with the system |
| groß | der Riese | riesengroß | tremendous |
| voll | das Verständnis | verständnisvoll | appreciative |
In this case, the noun is always the primary word and of course states the gender and number of the compound.
It is also possible to match up an adjective and a verb to form a new word.
| Adjective | Verb | Compound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| faul | laufen | lauffaul | too lazy to run |
| behindert | sehen | sehbehindert | visually impaired |
| gut | machen | gutmachen | to put something right |
The last possibility to create compounds is by using adjectives as the primary word.
| Adjective | Compound | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bereit | arbeitsbereit | ready for work |
| tätig | berufstätig | employed |
| sicher | todsicher | dead certain |
Of couse, it's also possible to do it the other way around, which means to create another word out of an adjective. For instance, combining an adjective and a noun to create a new noun, e.g. "rot" and "der Kohl" will be "der Rotkohl" (the cabbage).