So today I wanted to figure out how to say “tall” in German. Simple, right? Thought I’d knock this out before breakfast. How hard could it be?
First Try: Google Translate
Grabbed my phone, pulled up Google Translate like usual. Typed in “tall”, selected German. Boom. It gave me “groß”. Wrote that down. Felt pretty smart for about 10 seconds.
Second Guessing Myself
Started thinking… “groß” sounds just like “gross” in English. That can’t be right for “tall”. Is Google playing a joke? Maybe it means “big” instead? Needed to double-check.
- Tried “tall person”: “große Person”
- Tried “tall building”: “großes Gebäude”
Okay, still seeing “groß”. Slightly less sure now.
The Language Buddy Test
Decided to ask my German friend, Anna. Sent her a message: “Hey, how do I say someone is tall?” Waited… ping! Her reply: “Du meinst ‘groß’, natürlich.” Followed by: “Warum fragst du?”
Had to admit: “Just wanted to be sure ‘tall’ isn’t some special word. Like, different from big?”
She sent back laughing emojis. Big mistake. “Nein! In German, we use ‘groß’ for both. Easy! Unless they are especially tall, then maybe ‘sehr groß’.”
The Confusion Deepens
Felt a bit dumb. Why did I think it would be different? Went down a rabbit hole. Grabbed an old German textbook off my shelf. Dust flew everywhere. Flipped pages. Found the basics section.
- Der Mann ist groß. (The man is tall/big.)
- Das Haus ist groß. (The house is large.)
- Der Berg ist sehr groß. (The mountain is very high/large.)
So yeah. One word rules them all. Context is king. No fancy special word hiding in the dictionary.
The Accidental Solution
Told Anna I felt like an idiot. She said: “Don’t worry. Just remember ‘groß’ for height and size. It’s one less word to memorize!” Had to laugh. The simplest thing tripped me up because I overcomplicated it.
Final Takeaway
Sometimes the easiest answers are the right ones. Fell into my own trap trying to make “tall” in German more mysterious than it is. It’s just “groß”. Period. No rocket science needed. Feeling both relieved and slightly like a fool for wasting half my morning on this.
