Today’s blog post gives you 25 German adjectives, some you will recognise from your German textbooks and some you won’t.
Have a look at my infographic and see how many you know. Then find out or remind yourself what they mean in English and how you can use them.
- aufgeregt – excited
- glücklich – happy
- fröhlich – happy, cheerful
- verliebt – in love, lovestruck
- ausgeglichen -balanced
- verträumt -dreamy
- albern – silly
- stolz – proud
- gut gelaunt – cheerful, in a good mood
- schüchtern – shy
- nachdenklich – thoughtful
- verwundert – puzzled
- besorgt – worried
- erstaunt – amazed
- neidisch – envious
- erschrocken – alarmed, scared
- skeptisch – sceptical
- ängstlich – scared
- traurig – sad
- verzweifelt – desperate
- schlecht gelaunt – bad tempered, in a bad mood
- wütend – furious
- angeekelt (said in 3 syllables: an-ge-ekelt) – disgusted
- genervt – irritated, annoyed
- sauer – cross, mad
As with any adjective in German, if it comes after the noun you use it as it is. So if you wanted to say: I am in a good mood, you say:”Ich bin gut gelaunt”.
But if you want to say that somebody is a cheerful person, then the adjective needs an ending as follows:
- Das ist ein gut gelaunter Mann. (noun is masculine & the subject of the sentence with indefinite article.)
- Das ist eine gut gelaunte Frau. (noun is feminine & subject of the sentence with indefinite article)
- Das ist ein gut gelauntes Kind. (noun is neuter & subject of the sentence with indefinite article)
- Das ist der gut gelaunte Mann. (noun is masculine& the subject of the sentence with definite article.)
- Das ist die gut gelaunte Frau. (noun is feminine & subject with definite article)
- Das ist das gut gelaunte Kind. (noun is neuter & subject with definite article)
- Ich sehe den gut gelaunten Mann. (noun is masculine & the object of the sentence with definite article.)
- Ich sehe die gut gelaunte Frau. (noun is feminine & the object of the sentence with definite article)
- Ich sehe das gut gelaunte Kind. (noun is neuter & the object of the sentence with definite article)
And these endings are the same with any of the other adjectives: Ich bin eine fröhliche Frau. Er ist ein trauriger Mann, usw …
For more information about the four cases and adjective endings, check out my online course German grammar – the four cases
Which adjectives will you be using this week? Or, which one describes you?