German for English speakers House · Lesson 5

Size comparisons

Size comparisons in German — Du hast große Augen! (You have big eyes!) — with adjective endings before plural nouns.

Conversation

  1. Cassian Cassian

    Du hast wirklich sehr große Augen!

    Your eyes are very big!

    Tip: <sehr..> = adverbs in front of nouns are not inflected, i.e., declined

  2. Pishi Pishi

    Sind sie nicht wie deine?

    Aren't they like yours?

    Tip: <deine> = the world is inflected using "e" because it is referring to "eyes".

  3. Cassian Cassian

    Nein, weil meine klein sind.

    No, mine are small.

  4. Pishi Pishi

    Das liegt wahrscheinlich daran, dass du keine Katze bist.

    Maybe that's because you are not a cat.

    Tip: <dass> and <das> sound the same, but do not mean the same. Don’t get these two confused.

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

How do adjective endings work before plurals?

Without article (strong endings): -e for plural nominative. Große Augen (big eyes). With article: die großen Augen.

How do you say 'mine' / 'yours' in German?

Meine, deine + plural agreement: meine Augen (my eyes), deine Augen (your eyes). Sind sie wie meine? = 'are they like mine?'.

Common German size adjectives?

Groß (big), klein (small), riesig (huge), winzig (tiny), enorm (enormous), gewaltig (massive).

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