You’ve probably heard all about those German compound nouns. But did you know there’s a whole world of fantastic compound adjectives in German waiting to be discovered?
These adjective combinations aren’t only fun to use, they can also add something to your German. Sure, you can always use adverbs like sehr or total, but creating a brand new adjective takes things to a whole new level.
The Coffee Break German Show is a video and audio podcast series in which we talk about interesting topics for German learners. In our latest episode, Mark and Thomas discuss compound adjectives and how you can use them to elevate your vocabulary in German.
Keep reading to find out more, and we’d suggest listening to the podcast episode as you read. Once you reach the end, don’t forget to download your free worksheet, which will help you practise what you learn.
Compound adjectives in German: more than intensifiers
Compound adjectives in German can both add extra emphasis to an adjective, and soften it. While adverbs like besonders (“especially”) work, there’s something more satisfying about a brand new word!
Think of compound words in German as a mini-comparison
Many of these compound adjectives in German work like a comparison with a noun, or a simile in English.
Take kerzengerade, meaning “as straight as a candle”. Just as English has such phrases as “as sweet as sugar” or “pitch black”, German can join an adjective to a noun to form a compound adjective to paint a vivid picture. Kerzen + gerade = kerzengerade. It’s a more concise way of expressing things in German!
Let’s create some compound adjectives in German!
From the building block of a noun, which adjective could you add to form a new compound adjective in German? Here are a few to start with:
Staub < staubtrocken
dust > dust-dry, as dry as dust
Butter < butterweich
butter < butter-soft, as soft as butter
Aal < aalglatt
eel < eel-smooth, as slippery as an eel
Blitz < blitzschnell
lightning < lightning-fast, as quick as lightning
Blitz < blitzsauber
lightning < lightning-clean
Sau < saukalt
pig < pig cold
Sau < saugut
pig < pig good
Mixing and matching
Now, we’ll look at adjective + adjective to construct more compound adjectives. These can either strengthen or weaken the original adjective. Can you think of any words that often appear in compound adjectives?
Here are a few examples:
hoch
highly
For example, as in:
hochzufrieden
highly content
hochverdient
highly deserved
Die Auszeichnung war hochverdient.
The award was well deserved.
Another word that commonly appears in compound adjectives is:
hell
bright
For example, as in:
hellwach
wide awake (bright awake)
Finally, we also commonly see:
schwer
heavy
For example, as in:
schwerreich
heavy rich
Verb + adjective
Now, let’s look at some compound adjectives that are made up of a verb and an adjective.
tropfnass
dripping wet
This is from the verb tropfen which means “to drip”. Note that the -en is taken off the infinitive to leave the stem and the adjective is added.
quietschvergnügt
squeakingly happy
This is from the verb quietschen, “to squeak”.
jammerschade
moan shame
This is from the verb jammern (“to moan”) and is used to describe when something is a real, terrible shame.
waschecht
washingly true
This adjective comes from waschen, “to wash”. It might be used to describe someone as being “through and through Bavarian”, for example.
The sky’s the limit for compound words in German
The world of compound adjectives in German is vast! There are as many as there are nouns, verbs and adjectives that can be combined. We’ve looked at:
- noun + adjective
- adjective + adjective
- verb + adjective
There are many out there waiting to be discovered, and we hope this introduction has inspired you to get creative and invent your own. To take your knowledge of this topic further, you can learn all about compound nouns in another episode of The Coffee Break German Show with Olivera and Thomas.
If you found this interesting, make sure to listen to the full episode with Thomas and Mark on The Coffee Break German Show. We will regularly be uploading more episodes for German learners, so make sure to subscribe to our podcast feed and our channel on YouTube to find out when the next episode is available.
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So, next time you’re speaking, perhaps you’ll be able to include one or two compound adjectives in German. It’ll not only make your German sound more natural, but it’s also a lot of fun!
Bis zum nächsten Mal, and happy Coffee Breaking!
