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German Adjectives and Opposites

Jun 30, 2025

Overview

This lecture teaches 30 common German adjectives along with their opposites (totaling 60 adjectives), provides example sentences, and explains basic adjective usage in German.

Adjectives and Their Opposites

  • kalt (cold) ↔ warm (warm); kĂĽhl (cool) is also an opposite of warm
  • gesund (healthy) ↔ krank (sick)
  • dumm (stupid) ↔ klug (smart/clever)
  • dunkel (dark) ↔ hell (bright)
  • bekannt (known) ↔ unbekannt (unknown)
  • einfach/leicht (easy) ↔ schwer (difficult/heavy)
  • faul (lazy) ↔ fleiĂźig (hardworking)
  • ärgerlich/unerfreulich (annoying) ↔ erfreulich (pleasant)
  • laut (loud) ↔ leise (quiet)
  • leer (empty) ↔ voll (full)
  • langsam (slow) ↔ schnell (fast)
  • klein (small) ↔ groĂź (big)
  • weich (soft) ↔ hart (hard)
  • rauh (rough) ↔ glatt (smooth)
  • feucht (damp) ↔ trocken (dry)
  • richtig (correct) ↔ falsch (wrong)
  • alt (old) ↔ neu (new) / jung (young)
  • arm (poor) ↔ reich (rich)
  • breit (wide) ↔ schmal (narrow)
  • billig (cheap) ↔ teuer (expensive)
  • dick (fat/thick) ↔ dĂĽnn/mager (thin)
  • eckig (angular) ↔ rund (round)
  • weit (wide/far) ↔ eng (tight/narrow)
  • nah (near) ↔ fern (far)
  • locker (loose/relaxed) ↔ fest (tight/firm)
  • flach (flat) ↔ tief (deep)
  • gut (good) ↔ schlecht (bad)
  • hässlich (ugly) ↔ schön (beautiful)
  • kurz (short) ↔ lang (long)
  • geduldig (patient) ↔ ungeduldig (impatient)

Adjective Usage Notes

  • Adjectives describe the properties of nouns in German (wie-Wörter or "how-words").
  • When adjectives are placed before a noun, they must take adjective endings.
  • Adjective endings depend on the noun's article and grammatical case.
  • When adjectives come after the noun (predicate position), they do not decline.

Practice Activities

  • Exercises in the lesson involve matching adjectives to their opposites.
  • Practicing with real-life examples improves retention.

Key Terms & Definitions

  • Adjektiv — adjective; a word describing a property of a noun.
  • Gegenteil — opposite.
  • Adjektivendung — adjective ending based on article and case.
  • wie-Wörter — "how-words," another name for adjectives in German.

Action Items / Next Steps

  • Download and complete the adjective worksheet from the given Patreon page.
  • Review links for videos on adjective endings (Adjektivdeklination).
  • Practice forming sentences with new adjectives and their opposites.

Full transcript