Describing People
Describing People
German adjectives only take the endings you just learned when they sit directly before a noun — describing someone with sein leaves the adjective in its plain, unmarked form.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Predicative vs. attributive adjectives
Er ist groß. (predicative, no ending) vs. der große Mann (attributive, takes an ending)
He is tall. vs. the tall man
English adjectives never change form regardless of position. German adjectives only take endings when they sit directly before a noun (attributive: der große Mann); when they follow sein/werden/bleiben and describe the subject (predicative: Er ist groß), they stay in their plain dictionary form with no ending at all. This trips up learners who've just learned adjective endings and start over-applying them everywhere.
Hair and eye color use haben, not sein
Sie hat blaue Augen. (She has blue eyes.)
She has blue eyes.
To describe someone's eye or hair color, German typically uses haben + accusative, just like English 'to have blue eyes' — a rare case where the structures line up neatly. Just remember the adjective takes an accusative plural ending here (blaue Augen, not blau Augen), since it's attributive, sitting right before the noun.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| groß | grohs | tall |
| klein | klyn | short (of a person) / small |
| schlank | shlahnk | slim |
| freundlich | FROYNT-likh | friendly |
| lustig | LOOS-tikh | funny |
| schüchtern | SHUEKH-tern | shy |
| selbstbewusst | ZELPST-beh-voost | confident |
| blaue Augen | BLOW-eh OW-gen | blue eyes |
| braune Haare | BROW-neh HAH-reh | brown hair |
| Er sieht ... aus. | air zeet ... ows | He looks... / He appears... |
| nett | net | nice / kind |