Colours & Descriptions

Being able to describe things — their colour, size, quality, and appearance — is essential for everyday communication. In this lesson, you will learn the German colour words, common adjectives, and the basics of how adjectives work in German sentences.

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The Colours (Die Farben)

English	German	Pronunciation
red	rot	roht
blue	blau	blow
green	grün	grewn
yellow	gelb	gelp
orange	orange	oh-rahn-zheh
purple / violet	lila / violett	lee-lah / vee-oh-let
pink	rosa / pink	roh-zah / pink
white	weiß	vice
black	schwarz	shvarts
grey	grau	grow
brown	braun	brown
gold	gold	golt
silver	silber	zil-ber
dark blue / navy	dunkelblau	doon-kel-blow
light blue	hellblau	hel-blow

Light and Dark Shades

German uses hell (light) and dunkel (dark) as prefixes:

Shade	German	Example
light green	hellgrün	ein hellgrünes Auto (a light green car)
dark green	dunkelgrün	ein dunkelgrüner Wald (a dark green forest)
light red	hellrot	eine hellrote Blume (a light red flower)
dark red	dunkelrot	ein dunkelroter Wein (a dark red wine)
light grey	hellgrau	ein hellgrauer Himmel (a light grey sky)
dark grey	dunkelgrau	eine dunkelgraue Maus (a dark grey mouse)

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Using Colours in Sentences

Colours in German behave differently depending on where they appear in the sentence:

After the Noun (Predicate Position) — No Ending

When a colour comes after the verb (usually sein — to be), it takes no ending:

German	English
Der Himmel ist blau.	The sky is blue.
Die Rose ist rot.	The rose is red.
Das Auto ist grün.	The car is green.
Die Schuhe sind schwarz.	The shoes are black.

Before the Noun (Attributive Position) — Needs an Ending

When a colour comes before the noun, it takes an adjective ending that depends on the gender, case, and article:

German	English
der rote Apfel	the red apple
die blaue Blume	the blue flower
das grüne Auto	the green car
ein roter Apfel	a red apple
eine blaue Blume	a blue flower
ein grünes Auto	a green car

Note on endings: Adjective endings are a bigger topic covered in later courses. For now, just be aware that colours change their form before nouns. In the predicate position (after "ist/sind"), they stay unchanged.

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Common Adjectives (Häufige Adjektive)

Size and Shape

German	English	Opposite	English
groß	big / tall	klein	small / short
lang	long	kurz	short (length)
breit	wide	schmal	narrow
dick	thick / fat	dünn	thin
hoch	high / tall	niedrig	low
tief	deep	flach	flat / shallow
rund	round	eckig	angular

Quality and Condition

German	English	Opposite	English
gut	good	schlecht	bad
neu	new	alt	old
schön	beautiful	hässlich	ugly
sauber	clean	schmutzig	dirty
leicht	easy / light	schwer	difficult / heavy
schnell	fast	langsam	slow
laut	loud	leise	quiet
teuer	expensive	billig / günstig	cheap / affordable
voll	full	leer	empty
richtig	correct	falsch	wrong
offen	open	geschlossen	closed

Feelings and States

German	English	Opposite	English
glücklich	happy	traurig	sad
müde	tired	wach	awake
hungrig	hungry	satt	full (after eating)
durstig	thirsty	—	—
krank	sick	gesund	healthy
warm	warm	kalt	cold
nass	wet	trocken	dry
freundlich	friendly	unfreundlich	unfriendly
interessant	interesting	langweilig	boring
einfach	simple	kompliziert	complicated

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Temperature and Weather Descriptions

German	English
Es ist heiß.	It is hot.
Es ist warm.	It is warm.
Es ist kühl.	It is cool.
Es ist kalt.	It is cold.
Es ist sonnig.	It is sunny.
Es ist bewölkt.	It is cloudy.
Es regnet.	It is raining.
Es schneit.	It is snowing.
Es ist windig.	It is windy.
Es ist neblig.	It is foggy.

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Using Adjectives After "sein" (to be)