German Lessons

How to Describe People in GermanLesson 7

In this lesson, we're learning how to describe people in German.

06.02.2023
💡 In this lesson, you'll learn how to describe people in German. You'll learn:
  • Basic German Descriptions
  • How to Negate Adjectives in German
  • German Adverbs: immer, nie & manchmal

Now that you know the German verb sein and some basic German nouns, you could already start describing people... if only you knew some adjectives (description words)!

How to Describe People

Describing people (or things) in German is pretty easy. It works just like in English. All you need is the noun you want to describe (for example die Frau), the correct word for being (for example ist or sind) and the description word.

Die Frauen sind nett.
Der Hund ist schlau.
Ich bin ehrlich.
Das Horn
Die Ameise
Die Prinzessin
Der Floh

German Description Words

Here are some basic German adjectives to describe people:

groß
tall, big
klein
small
alt
old
jung
young
schlau
clever
dumm
silly
ehrlich
honest
nett
nice

Here are some more fun descriptions:

verrückt
crazy
lustig
funny
langweilig
boring
geizig
stingy
großzügig
generous
eifersüchtig
jealous

Now try this exercise:

1 / 2
Der Mann ist groß.
The man is small
The man is nice
The man is tall
Exercise 1.1: Grammatical Gender

Negation with nicht

If you want to say that Tom is tall, you could say this one of two ways:

  • You might say: Tom is tall
  • Or you might use a negation: Tom is not small

In German, you can negate adjectives by using the word nicht:

Die Frauen sind nicht nett.
Der Hund ist nicht schlau.
Ich bin nicht ehrlich.

Immer, Nie, Manchmal

Lastly, you can also use modifiers like always, never or sometimes. Maybe you want to say that your dog is sometimes a little bit silly, that you are always honest and that those women over there are always crazy.

Die Frauen sind immer nett.
Der Hund ist manchmal schlau.
Ich bin niemals ehrlich.
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