langula
Nouns, verbs and adjectives
What do “Suppe”, “spiele” and “groß” tell you?
Die Suppe ist sehr lecker.
The soup is very tasty.
Take a look
- Die Suppe ist sehr lecker.The soup is very tasty.
- Ich spiele gern Fußball.I like playing football.
- Das Haus ist sehr groß.The house is very big.
The rule
Nouns name people, things or ideas. In German you write them with a capital letter and learn the article with them: die Suppe. Verbs tell you what someone does or what happens: spielen, schlafen. Adjectives describe what something is like: groß, lecker. These word types work together in a sentence. Find the verb first; that makes the rest easier to understand.
Goes with lesson 3, 11, 13 of the course.
What differs for you
English already distinguishes nouns, verbs and adjectives, so the roles of “Suppe”, “spiele” and “groß” are familiar. German adds a visible signal that English usually lacks: every noun starts with a capital letter, even in the middle of a sentence. Learning a noun with its article also matters because the article tells you something about its German form.
The forms
The main parts of speech
| Wortart | Beispiel | Erkennst du an |
|---|---|---|
| Nomen | die Suppe, das Haus | großer Anfangsbuchstabe, Artikel |
| Verb | spielen, essen | Endung ändert sich: ich spiele, du spielst |
| Adjektiv | groß, müde | beschreibt: das große Haus |
| Artikel | der, die, das, ein | steht vor dem Nomen |
| Pronomen | ich, du, sie | steht statt eines Nomens |
| Präposition | in, auf, mit | steht vor Nomen oder Pronomen |
Common mistakes
*die suppedie Suppe.*Ich groß.Ich bin groß.
Quick check
- Which form fits? Die ___ ist sehr lecker.
- Which form fits? Ich ___ gern Fußball.
- Which form fits? Das Haus ist sehr ___.
- Which form fits? Mein ___ ist sehr nett.
- Which form fits? Sie ___ sehr gut.
The answers appear after “Check”.
- Suppe — “Suppe” is a German noun, so it starts with a capital letter.
- spiele — With “ich”, the present-tense verb takes -e: “spiele”.
- groß — “groß” describes the house and stays lowercase after sehr.
- Chef — “Chef” is a German noun, so it starts with a capital letter.
- tanzt — With sie meaning one woman, the verb ends in -t: “tanzt”.
The same exercises come back in the course — there Langula remembers what you know and asks again at the right moment. Learn German free →
Learn German, don’t just read about it
The sentences on this page are part of the free course — with pronunciation and repetition.