100 most common German adjectives
Ranked by how often each adjective is actually spoken in films and TV series, with the English meaning and a short example. Free to download for Anki, Quizlet, Excel or print.
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The list
100 adjectives
| # | German | English and example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | gutadjective | good, wellDas ist eine gute Idee. That is a good idea. |
| 2 | anderadjective | other, differentIch möchte ein anderes Buch. I want a different book. |
| 3 | schönadjective | beautiful, niceDas ist eine schöne Frau. That is a beautiful woman. |
| 4 | kleinadjective | small, littleDas Kind ist sehr klein. The child is very small. |
| 5 | großadjective | big, large, greatDas ist ein großes Haus. That is a big house. |
| 6 | besseradjective | betterMorgen geht es mir besser. Tomorrow I'll feel better. |
| 7 | neuadjective | newDas ist ein neues Auto. That is a new car. |
| 8 | letztadjective | lastDas ist mein letzter Tag hier. This is my last day here. |
| 9 | altadjective | oldMein Großvater ist sehr alt. My grandfather is very old. |
| 10 | totadjective | deadDer Mann ist tot. The man is dead. |
| 11 | ersteadjective | firstDas ist mein erster Tag hier. This is my first day here. |
| 12 | tolladjective | great, awesomeDas ist eine tolle Idee! That's a great idea! |
| 13 | liebadjective | dear, sweetDu bist mir sehr lieb. You are very dear to me. |
| 14 | langadjective | longDas war ein sehr langer Tag. That was a very long day. |
| 15 | wenigadjective | little, fewIch habe wenig Zeit heute. I have little time today. |
| 16 | wahradjective | true, realIst das wirklich wahr? Is that really true? |
| 17 | fertigadjective | ready, finished, doneBist du endlich fertig? Are you finally ready? |
| 18 | schlechtadjective | bad, poorDas Wetter ist heute schlecht. The weather is bad today. |
| 19 | einzigadjective | only, sole, singleDas ist die einzige Lösung. That's the only solution. |
| 20 | verrücktadjective | crazy, insane, madDu bist verrückt! You are crazy! |
| 21 | egaladjective | equal, same, doesn't matterDas ist mir egal. That doesn't matter to me. |
| 22 | nächstadjective | next, nearestDie nächste Woche komme ich. I will come next week. |
| 23 | nettadjective | nice, kind, friendlyDu bist sehr nett zu mir. You are very nice to me. |
| 24 | wichtigadjective | important, significantDas ist sehr wichtig für mich. That is very important to me. |
| 25 | kurzadjective | short, brief, quickDas war eine kurze Zeit. That was a short time. |
| 26 | bereitadjective | ready, prepared, willingBist du bereit? Are you ready? |
| 27 | falschadjective | false, wrong, incorrectDas ist falsch. That is wrong. |
| 28 | weitadjective | far, wide, distantDas ist sehr weit weg. That is very far away. |
| 29 | hochadjective | high, tall, upDas Gebäude ist sehr hoch. The building is very high. |
| 30 | jungadjective | young, youthfulIch bin noch jung. I am still young. |
| 31 | schweradjective | heavy, difficult, hardDas ist eine schwere Frage. That is a difficult question. |
| 32 | volladjective | full, completeDas Glas ist voll. The glass is full. |
| 33 | ruhigadjective | calm, quiet, peacefulBleib ruhig, alles ist okay. Stay calm, everything is okay. |
| 34 | eigenadjective | own, personalDas ist mein eigenes Zimmer. This is my own room. |
| 35 | bestadjective | bestDas ist die beste Pizza in der Stadt. That's the best pizza in the city. |
| 36 | schlimmadjective | bad, seriousDas ist sehr schlimm. That's very bad. |
| 37 | besteadjective | bestDas ist die beste Idee! That's the best idea! |
| 38 | ernstadjective | serious, earnestSprichst du im Ernst mit mir? Are you speaking seriously with me? |
| 39 | freiadjective | free, available, vacantIst dieser Platz frei? Is this seat free? |
| 40 | möglichadjective | possible, feasibleIst das möglich? Is that possible? |
| 41 | ehrlichadjective | honest, sincere, truthfulSei ehrlich mit mir. Be honest with me. |
| 42 | glücklichadjective | happy, fortunate, luckyIch bin sehr glücklich. I am very happy. |
| 43 | festadjective | firm, solid, fixedDer Griff ist fest. The grip is firm. |
| 44 | böseadjective | angry, evil, meanWarum bist du böse? Why are you angry? |
| 45 | starkadjective | strong, powerful, intenseEr ist sehr stark. He is very strong. |
| 46 | armadjective | poor, needy, unfortunateDie arme Familie hat kein Geld. The poor family has no money. |
| 47 | willkommenadjective | welcome, welcomedDu bist hier willkommen. You are welcome here. |
| 48 | lautadjective | loud, noisy, according toDie Musik ist zu laut. The music is too loud. |
| 49 | leichtadjective | easy, light, slightDiese Aufgabe ist leicht. This task is easy. |
| 50 | frohadjective | glad, happy, pleasedIch bin froh, dich zu sehen. I'm glad to see you. |
| 51 | hübschadjective | pretty, attractive, niceSie ist sehr hübsch. She is very pretty. |
| 52 | dummadjective | stupid, dumb, sillyDas ist eine dumme Idee. That's a stupid idea. |
| 53 | hartadjective | hard, tough, harshDer Stuhl ist sehr hart. The chair is very hard. |
| 54 | krankadjective | sick, ill, unwellMein Sohn ist heute krank. My son is sick today. |
| 55 | perfektadjective | perfect, flawless, idealDas ist eine perfekte Lösung. That's a perfect solution. |
| 56 | wertadjective | worth, valuable, worthyDas Bild ist viel Geld wert. The picture is worth a lot of money. |
| 57 | schwarzadjective | blackDas Auto ist schwarz. The car is black. |
| 58 | nahadjective | near, closeDas Geschäft ist nah. The shop is near. |
| 59 | halbadjective | halfIch esse eine halbe Pizza. I eat half a pizza. |
| 60 | weitereadjective | further, more, additionalIch habe weitere Fragen. I have more questions. |
| 61 | wehadjective | sore, painful, achingMein Kopf tut mir weh. My head hurts. |
| 62 | vorsichtigadjective | careful, cautious, warySei vorsichtig mit dem Glas. Be careful with the glass. |
| 63 | süßadjective | sweet, cute, lovelyDas Baby ist sehr süß. The baby is very cute. |
| 64 | stolzadjective | proud, proud ofIch bin stolz auf dich. I'm proud of you. |
| 65 | großartigadjective | great, magnificent, wonderfulDas ist eine großartige Idee. That's a wonderful idea. |
| 66 | stilladjective | quiet, silent, calmBitte sei still im Klassenzimmer. Please be quiet in the classroom. |
| 67 | lustigadjective | funny, amusing, entertainingDas ist eine lustige Geschichte! That's a funny story! |
| 68 | unglaublichadjective | incredible, unbelievable, amazingDas ist unglaublich! That's incredible! |
| 69 | rotadjective | redIch mag das rote Auto. I like the red car. |
| 70 | wunderbaradjective | wonderful, marvelous, greatDas ist wunderbar! That's wonderful! |
| 71 | nötigadjective | necessary, needed, requiredDas ist nicht nötig. That's not necessary. |
| 72 | normaladjective | normal, ordinary, usualDas ist ganz normal. That's completely normal. |
| 73 | unmöglichadjective | impossible, out of the questionDas ist unmöglich! That's impossible! |
| 74 | tiefadjective | deep, profound, lowDas Wasser ist sehr tief. The water is very deep. |
| 75 | schrecklichadjective | terrible, awful, horribleDas war eine schreckliche Nacht für uns. That was a terrible night for us. |
| 76 | gefährlichadjective | dangerous, hazardousDas ist sehr gefährlich für dich. That is very dangerous for you. |
| 77 | geschicktadjective | skillful, clever, deftEr ist sehr geschickt mit seinen Händen. He is very skillful with his hands. |
| 78 | komischadjective | funny, strange, oddDas ist komisch, ich verstehe das nicht. That is strange, I don't understand it. |
| 79 | seltsamadjective | strange, odd, peculiarDas ist sehr seltsam, nicht wahr? That is very strange, isn't it? |
| 80 | linkadjective | leftGeh nach links, nicht rechts. Go left, not right. |
| 81 | verheiratetadjective | marriedSind Sie verheiratet oder ledig? Are you married or single? |
| 82 | ständigadjective | constant, continual, alwaysEr ruft mich ständig an. He calls me constantly. |
| 83 | offenadjective | openDie Tür ist offen. The door is open. |
| 84 | wachadjective | awakeBist du wach? Are you awake? |
| 85 | heißadjective | hotDas Wasser ist zu heiß. The water is too hot. |
| 86 | kaltadjective | coldEs ist heute sehr kalt draußen. It's very cold outside today. |
| 87 | verdammtadjective | damned, cursedDas ist verdammt schwierig! That's damn difficult! |
| 88 | müdeadjective | tired, sleepyIch bin so müde heute. I'm so tired today. |
| 89 | bekanntadjective | known, famousEr ist sehr bekannt. He is very famous. |
| 90 | wütendadjective | angry, furiousEr ist wütend auf mich. He is angry at me. |
| 91 | heiligadjective | holy, sacredDas ist ein heiliger Ort. That is a holy place. |
| 92 | deutschadjective | GermanIch spreche Deutsch. I speak German. |
| 93 | nächsteadjective | nextNächste Woche fahre ich weg. Next week I'm going away. |
| 94 | verliebtadjective | in loveEr ist in sie verliebt. He's in love with her. |
| 95 | saueradjective | sour, angryDie Zitrone ist sehr sauer. The lemon is very sour. |
| 96 | geborenadjective | bornIch bin 1990 geboren. I was born in 1990. |
| 97 | besondereadjective | special, particularDas ist etwas Besonderes. That's something special. |
| 98 | reichadjective | rich, wealthyEr ist sehr reich und glücklich. He is very rich and happy. |
| 99 | traurigadjective | sad, sorrowfulWarum bist du so traurig heute? Why are you so sad today? |
| 100 | schadeadjective | pity, shame, unfortunateSchade, dass du nicht kommen kannst. It's a pity you can't come. |
How this list was made
Most frequency lists count newspapers and books. This one counts what people say on screen: word counts from the OpenSubtitles 2018 collection of film and TV subtitles (156 million German words), published by the FrequencyWords project.
Different forms of the same word are counted together under the dictionary form, so every form of a verb adds to the verb's rank. Names, English words, typos and swear words were removed. Nouns are shown with their article where the language has one, so you learn the gender with the word.
Ranking: OpenSubtitles 2018 via FrequencyWords by Hermit Dave (CC BY-SA 4.0). This list is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Questions
How many German words do you need to understand films and TV?
In 156 million words of German subtitles, the 100 most common words make up 60.7% of everything said, the top 500 make up 76.7% and the top 1000 make up 81%. The rest are rarer words that are easiest to pick up from the shows themselves, in context.
How do I import this list into Anki?
Download the Anki deck (.apkg) and open it, or in Anki choose File, Import and pick the file. The cards arrive in the order of the list, most common first, with the meaning and an example on the back. AnkiDroid and AnkiMobile open the same file.
Can I use it in Quizlet?
Yes. Open the Quizlet file, copy everything, then in Quizlet create a set, choose Import and paste. Keep "Tab" between term and definition and "New line" between cards. Knowt and Brainscape accept the same text.
Is it free to use and share?
Yes. Download it, print it and share it. The list is published under CC BY-SA 4.0: if you publish it or a changed version, credit Fluent by Accident and the FrequencyWords project and share it under the same licence.
Where do the translations and examples come from?
The ranking comes only from real word counts. The English meanings and example sentences were drafted with AI and can contain small mistakes. If you spot one, write to rk@coldabry.com.