Adjectives and Adverbs in German – A1 Grammar Made Simple

What are adjectives and adverbs?

Adjectives describe nouns: things, people, places. They tell you what kind, how big, how old, what colour, etc.

Examples:

ein schönes Haus (a beautiful house)
eine interessante Sprache (an interesting language)
ein kleiner Hund (a small dog)

Adverbs describe how, when, or where something happens. In German, many adverbs look exactly like adjectives.

Examples:

Sie spricht laut. (She speaks loudly.)
Ich lerne schnell. (I learn fast.)
Wir fahren morgen. (We are leaving tomorrow.)

The key difference:

Adjectives describe things (nouns): eine schöne Stadt, ein kleiner Tisch, das neue Auto
Adverbs describe actions (verbs): schnell laufen, gut schlafen, laut sprechen

Tip: Ask yourself – does it describe a thing (adjective) or an action (adverb)? That helps you decide which one it is.

Using adjectives with nouns – with articles

When you use an adjective before a noun in German, you must change its ending. This is called adjective declension, and it depends on:

the gender of the noun (der/die/das)
the case (Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive)
whether the article is definite (der, die, das), indefinite (ein, eine), or missing

At A1 level, you mostly need nominative and accusative with definite and indefinite articles.

Examples:

der große Tisch (the big table – masculine, nom.)
einen schönen Garten (a beautiful garden – masculine, acc.)
das neue Auto (the new car – neuter, nom./acc.)
eine nette Lehrerin (a nice teacher – fem., nom.)

More A1-friendly examples:

Ich habe einen kleinen Hund. (I have a small dog.)
Das ist ein interessanter Film. (That’s an interesting film.)
Sie liest eine spannende Geschichte. (She reads an exciting story.)

Tip: Adjective endings can feel tricky. Try to memorise whole phrases, not just grammar rules. That builds fluency faster.

Using adjectives after sein, werden, bleiben

When an adjective comes after a verb like sein (to be), werden (to become), or bleiben (to remain), it doesn’t change its form. It stays in the basic form.

This is much easier than adjectives before a noun – no declension needed!

Examples:

Das Wetter ist schön. (The weather is nice.)
Ich bin müde. (I am tired.)
Er bleibt ruhig. (He stays calm.)
Sie wird berühmt. (She is becoming famous.)
Du bist nett. (You are kind.)

Tip: These are called predicative adjectives – and they never change!

Common A1 adjectives

Here are some useful adjectives you will see and use a lot. Try using each one in a sentence with a noun:

klein (small)
groß (big)
alt (old)
jung (young)
schön (beautiful)
teuer (expensive)
billig (cheap)
nett (nice)
freundlich (friendly)
schwer (difficult/heavy)
einfach (easy)
ruhig (calm)
laut (loud)
schnell (fast)
langsam (slow)

Tip: Make flashcards with the adjective and an example sentence. Use both before and after a noun:

der kleine Hund / Der Hund ist klein.
ein freundlicher Lehrer / Der Lehrer ist freundlich.

Adverbs – when, how, where

You don’t need to change adverbs. They’re very learner-friendly!

Some common types:

Time (when?)

heute (today)
morgen (tomorrow)
jetzt (now)
bald (soon)
immer (always)

Manner (how?)

gern (with pleasure)
schnell (fast)
langsam (slowly)
leise (quietly)
deutlich (clearly)

Place (where?)

hier (here)
dort (there)
oben (above)
unten (below)
draußen (outside)

Examples:

Ich komme morgen.
Er spricht sehr langsam.
Sie bleibt hier.
Wir treffen uns draußen.

Tip: If it doesn’t describe a noun, it’s likely an adverb – and you don’t need to worry about endings.

Summary – what to remember

Adjectives describe nouns, adverbs describe actions.
Adjectives change endings before nouns but not after verbs like sein/werden.
Adverbs never change their form.
Learn the most useful ones through short phrases.
Ask yourself what the word is describing – that helps you choose the right form.