This is How you DESCRIBE PEOPLE in German (German Adjectives)
Denisa waves to someone
VANESSA
Wer ist das?
(Who is that?)
DENISA
Das ist Marcel. Ich kenne ihn von der Arbeit.
(That’s Marcel. I know him from work.)
VANESSA
Er ist echt groß und … was ist das Wort?
(He is really tall and… what is the word?)
DENISA
Ich weiß nicht, was du meinst.
(I don’t know what you mean.)
Hallo und Willkommen bei Spring German. Ich bin Denisa. Ich bin klein und braunhaarig. (Hello and welcome to Spring German. I’m Denisa. I’m small and brunette.) In this video we will learn how to describe a person in German. Ready for all the adjectives? Los geht’s!
1. Wie sieht sie/er aus? (How does she/he look like?)
DENISA
Ich habe einen neuen Mitarbeiter.
(I have a new co-worker.)
VANESSA
Echt? Wie heißt er?
(Really? What’s his name?)
DENISA
Er heißt David. Er ist fünfundzwanzig Jahre alt.
(His name is David. He is 25 years old.)
VANESSA
Oh, so jung!
(Oh, so young!)
It’s helpful if you can tell the name and the age of someone first.
Chunks for that are:
- Wie heißt er? (What is his name?)
- Er heißt … (He is called…)
- Wie alt ist sie? (How old is she?)
- Sie ist … Jahre alt. (She is … years old.)
To learn more about introductions check this video here.
VANESSA
Und wie sieht er aus?
(And how does he look like?)
DENISA
Er ist attraktiv, groß und schlank.
(He’s attractive, tall and slim.)
VANESSA
Also ist er nicht klein und dick?
(So he is not small and big?)
DENISA
Nein, gar nicht.
(No, not at all.)
Chunk alert!
“Wie sieht er/sie aus” (How does he/she look like) is the most common question when you’re describing someone. You use er (he) when it’s a boy or man and sie (she) if it’s a girl or woman you’re referring to.
Chunks are word combinations that are used often by native speakers and that you can learn by heart as a whole.
In the description you will find a link to our free essential German chunking kit, where you can find all the chunks you need when talking in German.
Helpful adjectives are:
- klein (small) like kleine Frau (small woman)
- groß (tall) like großer Junge (tall boy)
- dick (big) like dicker Mann (big man)
- dünn (thin) like dünner Mann (thin man)
- hübsch (pretty) like hübsche Frau (pretty woman)
- attraktiv (attractive) like attraktiver Mann (attractive man)
- hässlich (ugly) like hässlicher Hund (ugly dog)
- alt (old) like alte Frau (old woman)
- jung (young) like junge Frau (young woman)
2.Welche Haarfarbe hat sie/er? (What hair color does she/he have?)
VANESSA
Und welche Haarfarbe hat er?
(And which hair color does he have?)
DENISA
Er ist blond. Aber du hast deine Haare gefärbt, oder?
(He is blond. But you have dyed your hair, right?)
VANESSA
Ja. Ich habe jetzt pinke Haare.
(Yes. I have pink hair now.)
DENISA
Sieht gut aus!
(Looks good!)
VANESSA
Danke dir.
(Thank you.)
Natural hair colors are:
- braun (brown), braune Haare (brown hair)
- blond (blond/e), blonde Haare (blond/e hair)
- schwarz (black), schwarze Haare (black hair)
- rot (red), rote Haare (red hair)
- weiß (white), weiße Haare (white hair)
Of course you can also have pink or green dyed hair. To learn more about colors, check this video here.
Stay tuned because at the end of this video we will do a small quiz to check your knowledge.
3. Was hat sie/er an? (What does she/he wear?)
VANESSA
Er ist echt groß und … was ist das Wort?
(He is really tall and… what is the word?)
DENISA
Ich weiß nicht, was du meinst.
(I don’t know what you mean.)
VANESSA
Ah, ich weiß. Er hat einen guten Geschmack!
(Ah, I know. He has good taste!)
DENISA
Was meinst du?
(What do you mean?)
VANESSA
Na, seine Klamotten.
(Well, his clothes.)
Er hat einen guten Geschmack (He has good taste) can refer to taste in music, food or clothes. So in this scenario Vanessa refers to Marcel’s clothes.
DENISA
Ach so. Ja, stimmt. Sein weißes T-Shirt passt gut zu der schwarzen Jacke.
(Ah. Yes, you’re right. His white t-shirt fits well to the black jacket.)
VANESSA
Ja. Und er trägt coole, blaue Schuhe.
(Yes. And he is wearing cool, blue shoes.)
To describe what someone wears, you have to know the words for the different clothes. To say he is wearing …, say er trägt … (he is wearing…).
Here are some examples:
- ein T-Shirt (a t-shirt)
- eine Bluse (a blouse)
- ein Hemd (a shirt)
- eine Hose (trousers)
- Socken (socks)
- Schuhe (shoes)
Ich trage heute einen Pulli. (I’m wearing a sweatshirt today).
4. Was macht sie/er? (What is she/he doing?)
DENISA
Was macht er jetzt? Ich sehe ihn nicht mehr.
(What is he doing now? I can’t see him anymore.)
VANESSA
Er sitzt auf einer Bank. Oh, jetzt steht er auf.
(He’s sitting on a bench. Oh, now he’s getting up.)
DENISA
Wohin geht er?
(Where is he going?)
VANESSA
Ich glaube er geht nach Hause.
(I think he is going home.)
You will probably also want to talk more about someone’s actions. Here are some examples:
- Er steht auf. (He stands up.)
- Sie geht zur Arbeit. (She goes to work.)
- Er arbeitet am Computer. (He works at the computer.)
- Sie liest die Zeitung. (She reads the newspaper.)
5. Wie wirkt sie/er? (How does she/he seem?)
VANESSA
Wie wirkt David denn so bei der Arbeit?
(How does David seem at work?)
DENISA
Er ist oft müde.
(He’s often tired.)
VANESSA
Der Arme. Aber ist er glücklich mit der Arbeit?
(Poor guy. But is he happy with his work?)
DENISA
Ja, ich glaube schon. Er lächelt immer.
(Yes, I think so. He is always smiling.)
To talk about someone’s emotions, these words can be helpful:
- glücklich (happy)
- traurig (sad)
- wütend (angry)
- erschöpft (exhausted)
- müde (tired)
6. Quiz
Try to describe this picture to me please. How does he look like? Which hair color does he have? In which mood is he? Stop the video for some extra time. Let me know in the comments down below how you did.
Here you can say:
- Er ist dick. (He is big.)
- Er ist rothaarig. / Er hat rote Haare. (He has red hair.)
- Er ist erschöpft. (He is exhausted.)
- Er trägt ein gelbes Hemd. (He wears a yellow shirt.)
- Er trägt eine Kiste. (He is carrying a box.)
