Ask a German what the new colleague is like and you might hear Ganz nett. It sounds friendly. It usually means "fine, nothing special". Describing people in German is mostly about words like this: small ones that carry more than their dictionary meaning.
Below are the adjectives for good traits, bad traits and everything in between, with the false friends that catch nearly every learner, and the polite way to say someone isn't perfect.
Good Qualities
friendly
freundlich
nice
nett
likeable
sympathisch
helpful
hilfsbereit
reliable
zuverlässig
hard-working
fleißig
punctual
pünktlich
tidy, organised
ordentlich
honest
ehrlich
patient
geduldig
generous
großzügig
funny
lustig
sociable
gesellig
laid-back
locker / entspannt
ambitious
ehrgeizig
down to earth
bodenständig
Practice these words
freundlich
Sympathisch is a false friend. It means likeable, someone you warm to: Die neue Nachbarin ist sehr sympathisch. Sympathetic, in the sense of understanding your problem, is verständnisvoll or mitfühlend.
Nett or freundlich? Freundlich is how someone behaves: polite, helpful, smiling at the counter. Nett is mostly what they're like as a person. And ganz nett, said without enthusiasm, is faint praise.
Less Flattering Traits
lazy
faul
stubborn
stur
impatient
ungeduldig
arrogant
arrogant
conceited
eingebildet
stingy
geizig
moody
launisch
unreliable
unzuverlässig
rude
unhöflich
grumpy
mürrisch
pushy
aufdringlich
narrow-minded
engstirnig
boring
langweilig
stuffy, conventional
spießig
Practice these words
faul
Spießig has no exact English match. It describes someone who loves rules, order and a neat front garden, and who notices when you don't. Calling yourself ein bisschen spießig is a joke Germans make about themselves.
Watch out: describing a person, eingebildet means conceited, full of yourself, not imaginative. An imaginative person is fantasievoll.
Somewhere in Between
shy
schüchtern
quiet
ruhig
reserved
zurückhaltend
talkative
gesprächig
serious
ernst
direct
direkt
strict
streng
sensitive
sensibel
curious, nosy
neugierig
thrifty
sparsam
Practice these words
schüchtern
These words lean positive or negative depending on who says them and how. Direkt is mostly a compliment in Germany: it means you say what you think, and people know where they stand. Neugierig is "curious" about the world and "nosy" about the neighbours.
False friend: sensibel means sensitive, easily hurt or very aware of others. Sensible, in the sense of reasonable, is vernünftig.
Saying It Politely
Germans are direct about facts but careful about people. The usual trick is nicht so plus a positive word, or a softener in front of a negative one.
He's a bit shy.
Er ist ein bisschen schüchtern.
He's not very talkative.
Er ist nicht so gesprächig.
She can be quite stubborn.
Sie kann ziemlich stur sein.
He's not exactly the most reliable.
Er ist nicht gerade der Zuverlässigste.
She's really nice.
Sie ist wirklich nett.
He has a sense of humour.
Er hat Humor.
She's a morning person.
Sie ist ein Morgenmensch.
He's a night owl.
Er ist eine Nachteule.
Practice these words
Er ist ein bisschen schüchtern.
Tip: nicht so zuverlässig sounds kinder than unzuverlässig, and everyone understands it the same way. Nicht gerade ("not exactly") is a little sharper and often ironic.
Adjectives Before a Noun
After sein the adjective stays as it is: Er ist nett. In front of a noun it takes an ending, and with ein or eine the ending shows the gender.
| Gender | After *sein* | With *ein / eine* | With *der / die / das* |
|---|---|---|---|
masculine | Der Kollege ist nett. | ein netter Kollege | der nette Kollege |
feminine | Die Kollegin ist nett. | eine nette Kollegin | die nette Kollegin |
neuter | Das Kind ist nett. | ein nettes Kind | das nette Kind |
plural | Die Kollegen sind nett. | nette Kollegen | die netten Kollegen |
You'll be understood with the wrong ending, so don't let it stop you talking. The full system has more cases, but these four lines cover most descriptions of people.
Asking What Someone Is Like
What's he like?
Wie ist er so?
What kind of person is she?
Was ist sie für ein Mensch?
Do you get on well with her?
Verstehst du dich gut mit ihr?
We get on well.
Wir verstehen uns gut.
He's not my type.
Er ist nicht mein Typ.
She's really sweet.
Sie ist total lieb.
Practice these words
Wie ist er so?
Lieb is warmer than nett: kind, sweet, affectionate. It's used for children, partners, friends and grandmothers, and Das ist lieb von dir is a heartfelt "That's kind of you".
Typically German?
Ask Germans to describe themselves and three words come up again and again: pünktlich, ordentlich and zuverlässig. Foreigners add direkt, and sometimes ernst. Like every cliché, it's half true. Germany also has plenty of late, chaotic and very funny people.
What the cliché gets right is which qualities are valued. In a reference letter, a flatshare ad or a job interview, zuverlässig is one of the best things anyone can say about you.