19 Adjectives To Describe People In German With Example Questions And Answers
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 groĂź und … was ist das Wort?
(He is really tall and… what is the word?)
DENISA
Ich weiĂź nicht, was du meinst.
(I don’t know what you mean.)
Hello and welcome to Spring German! In this lesson, we will learn how to describe people in German with different questions and adjectives.
Ready?
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 heiĂźt er?
(Really? What’s his name?)
DENISA
Er heiĂźt David. Er ist fĂĽnfundzwanzig 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:
German | English |
---|---|
Wie heiĂźt er? | What is his name? |
Er heiĂźt … | 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 our blog post on how you can introduce yourself in German.
VANESSA
Und wie sieht er aus?
(And how does he look like?)
DENISA
Er ist attraktiv, groĂź 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. You can always find more chunks on our Spring German YouTube channel.
✔️ Cheat Sheet with 53 Essential German Chunks: chunks and words you’ll hear and use in every German conversation
✔️ Tips on how to speak German WITHOUT thinking about grammar
✔️ A German Chunking Tutorial showing you the 1 technique that’ll help you make 100% of the German from our videos roll off the tongue in just 5 minutes a day (you’re probably only using 50% of our lessons’ potential right now…)
Helpful adjectives are:
German | English |
---|---|
klein | small |
wie kleine Frau | like small woman |
groĂź | tall |
wie groĂźer Junge | like tall boy |
dick | big |
wie dicker Mann | like big man |
dĂĽnn | thin |
wie dĂĽnner Mann | like thin man |
hĂĽbsch | pretty |
wie hĂĽbsche Frau | like pretty woman |
attraktiv | attractive |
wie attraktiver Mann | like attractive man |
hässlich | ugly |
wie hässlicher Hund | like ugly dog |
alt | old |
wie alte Frau | like old woman |
jung | young |
wie junge Frau | like 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:
German | English |
---|---|
braun | brown |
wie braune Haare | like brown hair |
blond | blond/e |
wie blonde Haare | like blond/e hair |
schwarz | black |
wie schwarze Haare | like black hair |
rot | red |
wie rote Haare | like red hair |
weiĂź | white |
wie weiĂźe Haare | like 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 lesson 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 groĂź und … was ist das Wort?
(He is really tall and… what is the word?)
DENISA
Ich weiĂź nicht, was du meinst.
(I don’t know what you mean.)
VANESSA
Ah, ich weiĂź. 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 weiĂźes 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:
German | English |
---|---|
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:
German | English |
---|---|
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 mĂĽde.
(He’s often tired.)
VANESSA
Der Arme. Aber ist er glĂĽcklich 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:
German | English |
---|---|
glĂĽcklich | happy |
traurig | sad |
wĂĽtend | angry |
erschöpft | exhausted |
mĂĽde | tired |
6. Quiz to describe people in German
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:
German | English |
---|---|
Er ist dick. | He is big. |
Er ist rothaarig. | He is red-haired. |
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. |