🎓 Prepared by students from Boğaziçi University

What are Personality Traits?

Personality traits are adjectives that describe someone's character and behavior — friendly, intelligent, kind, lazy, confident. In German, these adjectives change form to match the noun they describe, making agreement essential for fluent speech.

Short answer

Personality traits are adjectives like freundlich (friendly), nett (kind), klug (clever), and faul (lazy). In German, they agree with the noun's gender, number, and case.

Positive vs Negative Personality Traits

Positive

•freundlich (friendly)
•nett (kind)
•mutig (brave)
•fleißig (diligent)

Negative

•ungeduldig (impatient)
•faul (lazy)
•grausam (cruel)
•hochmütig (arrogant)

Step-by-step worked examples

Der Mann ist freundlich. (The man is friendly.)

Adjective 'freundlich' agrees with masculine noun 'Mann' in nominative case
No ending change needed in predicative position (after 'ist')

Ich mag die intelligente Frau. (I like the intelligent woman.)

Adjective 'intelligent' → 'intelligente' (accusative, feminine, with definite article)
Ending '-e' shows accusative feminine agreement

Ein mutiger Junge läuft schnell. (A brave boy runs fast.)

Adjective 'mutig' → 'mutiger' (nominative, masculine, with indefinite article)
Ending '-er' marks nominative masculine singular

Flashcards

Quick quiz

Q1.Which adjective means 'lazy' in German?

Correct answer: B. Faul = lazy. Fleißig = diligent, mutig = brave, klug = clever.

Q2.Nominative feminine singular of 'intelligent':

Correct answer: B. Nominative feminine singular ends in '-e'. (Die intelligente Frau.)

Q3.What happens to personality adjectives in German?

Correct answer: B. German adjectives change their ending to match the noun they describe.

Q4.Does 'Der Mann ist freundlich' need an adjective ending?

Correct answer: C. In predicative position after 'sein', adjectives typically don't add endings.

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Common mistakes

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Using the same adjective ending for all cases. — Correct: Adjective endings differ by case: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive each have their own patterns.

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Ignoring gender when forming adjectives. — Correct: Masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns require different adjective endings.

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Adding an ending after 'sein' in sentences like 'Er ist freundlich'. — Correct: Predicative adjectives (after 'sein') stay in base form; no ending needed.

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Thinking 'fleißig' means lazy. — Correct: Fleißig means diligent; faul means lazy — they're opposites.

FAQ

What are personality traits in German?

Adjectives describing character — freundlich (friendly), nett (kind), mutig (brave), faul (lazy) — that agree with the noun.

How do German personality adjectives agree?

By matching the noun's gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular, plural), and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive).

Do adjectives change after 'sein'?

No, in predicative position they typically stay in base form: Der Mann ist freundlich.

What's the difference between fleißig and faul?

Fleißig (diligent) is positive; faul (lazy) is negative — complete opposites in meaning.