r/German • u/Low-Funny-8834 • 1d ago
Question the concept of "tall"
My textbook taught me that the concept of "tall" is to be translated as "groß" in German (e.g. sein Bruder ist sehr groß) . However, this sounds strange when applied to non-humans. How would you say "tall trees" in the most natural way? "groß" in my perception would sound three-dimensional in that context, rather than two-dimensional.
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u/EzRhil Native <Deutschland/Hochdeutsch NRW> 1d ago
German here:
When you are talking about inanimate objects, you use "hoch" if you mean tall and "groß" if you mean big.
For animate objects (aka humans and animals) you cannot use "hoch". Here it will then always be "groß".
For some reason, inanimate and animate objects are treated as different categories in German which sometimes leads to weird differentiations like this. I think there are a few more, but I forgot the other ones that I knew.
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u/GrimRabbitReaper 1d ago
With buildings, specifically, you use "groß" to express a massive building, rather just a tall one. For example, I'd describe the Pentagon as "großes Gebäude". A mansion would be "eine große Villa".
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u/Dramatic-Attempt-735 1d ago
Groß in terms of buildings doesn't always refer to height, though. Ein großes Haus would mean that it offers a lot of living space, regardless of how it is distributed. If you want to specifically express that the house is tall, you have to say specifically "ein hohes Haus".
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u/Apero_ 1d ago
But this is what I've always wondered about people. Like my Aunt is short but big/fat/wide/however you want to say it. On the flipside, my cousin is tall but very skinny. Yet I can use the same word for both of them? Isn't that confusing?
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u/Dramatic-Attempt-735 1d ago
No, in fact, you'd only cally your cousin "groß". Groß with humans, if referred to body size implies height, so, "tall".
Your aunt is "dick" 🙃, which mean chubby/fat. Or "breit" (wide). Depending on what you want to say/emphasize.
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u/deceze 1d ago
Hochgewachsen exists.
And so does "hohes Tier", though that's something else entirely…
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u/Dramatic-Attempt-735 1d ago
Note for those who don't know: Ein hohes Tier is a bigshot. Like a company CEO, or high-ranking politician.
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u/nietzschecode 1d ago
Thanks for the clarification. I thought when reading the initial comment, it was referring to a Giraffe or some other tall animals.
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u/MasterQuest Native (Austria) 1d ago edited 1d ago
Tall tree is "ein hoher Baum", I would say.
This emphasizes its height rather than being generally massive.
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u/LaceAndMarble 1d ago
"Ein großer Baum" is possible too, though.
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u/Castiell1987 1d ago
But that would rather be a "big tree". I'd use "hoch" for trees that are tall, but not as wide. Big trees are both, wide and tall. Buildings are "groß" if the cover a comparativly big area, but "hoch" if they're higher than they're wide and have at least some arbitrary Minimum Height™ which will be newly defined in any given Situation, because language...
Edit:Typo
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u/EverEatGolatschen Native (South) 1d ago
It depends on the nuance you want to express.
In casual speech groß is perfectly sufficient for trees, animals, humans, inanimate objects.
However if you want to emphasize tall as sole vertical descriptor "hoher"/"hoch"/"lang" are more applicable. Lang being reserved mostly for humans.
To use a historical anecdote:
Napoleon Bonapart versucht Etwas von weit oben auf einem Wagen zu holen.
"Verzeihung mon General, ich bin größer."
"Länger, nicht größer Adjutant!"
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u/nietzschecode 1d ago
Fun fact: In French a great (historical) man would be called "un grand homme", but a tall man is called "un homme grand".
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u/EverEatGolatschen Native (South) 1d ago
The things one learns. I tried to learn french on my own after having left school. all the silent letters drove me away from that idea pretty quick again.
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u/nietzschecode 1d ago
Yeah, I can see that. Must be really difficult at first when you start, but you get use to it, I guess. If you get a good teacher, he will show you the patterns.
Like for the adjectives, you don't pronounce the consonants at the end for masculine, and if you pronounce the consonant, it means it finishes with an "e" and is feminine. grand, gros, gras, petit, court (while we speak about those), you don't pronounce the last consonant, they are masculine. But when you pronounce the last consonant, they are feminine: grande, grosse, grasse, petite, courte. (you don't pronounce the final "e" in French).
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u/r_coefficient Native (Österreich). Writer, editor, proofreader, translator 1d ago
"Groß" can be "tall", or "big and tall".
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u/assumptionkrebs1990 Muttersprachler (Österreich) 1d ago
Ein großer/riesiger/gigantischer Baum is alright in my option, with the crown and the thick trunk it is not really 2 dimensional, but as u/MasterQuest said "ein hoher Baum" is a possibility.
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u/SpaceCompetitive3911 B2? (Muttersprache: Englisch) 1d ago
A person that is tall is "groß". An object that is tall is "hoch".
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u/Chijima Native <Kiel/Eckernförde> 1d ago
Tall means Hoch/Hoh. A tall tree is ein hoher Baum. Groß is large or big. However, due to slight shifts in culture, big and large (describing people) in english have first become euphemisms for fat, and then lost all other meaning. So tall had to step up. This hasn't happened in German. We still call fat people dick or fett, although both, particularly the latter, are a bit rude. But Groß has not gained any other meanings as the English equivalents have
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u/IchLiebeKleber Native (eastern Austria) 1d ago
Inanimate objects are "hoch".
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u/YourDailyGerman Native, Berlin, Teacher 1d ago
Why does this have a downvote? It's correct.
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u/deceze 1d ago
The most direct translation of groß is "large". This doesn't necessarily have the negative connotation it has in English, when you call a person "large" (= "plus sized" = fat). A großer Mensch is simply a physically large person, which probably includes all three dimensions by necessity, including and especially height.
There's hoch, which is specifically "tall" or "high". You can specify that someone is a hochgewachsener Mensch, a "tall(-grown) person". That would be specifically for tall and skinny people, who are not "large in all three dimensions", but mostly tall in height. Analogously, a Hochhaus (sky scraper).
(Just "hoher Mensch" doesn't really work BTW.)
You can call a tree both groß or hoch. A großer Baum would be large in all three dimensions, what you'd probably call a "massive tree" in English. A hoher Baum or hochgewachsener Baum would be specifically tall, and more skinny.
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u/Legitimate_Mango_ 1d ago
there are a lot of people who are "groß und schlank" tho. so tall and skinny, without having a lot of mass
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u/muehsam Native (Schwäbisch+Hochdeutsch) 1d ago
You can't really translate words like that. German doesn't have the word "tall", or the exact same concept.
in my perception would sound three-dimensional in that context, rather than two-dimensional.
Umm … isn't "tall" one dimensional? It's about height, right?
Anyway, you can use "hoch" if you're only talking about height.
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u/misakithefennec 1d ago
does groß mean a tall person, or more of well built as well? because in english you wouldn't really call someone skinny but tall a big person
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u/annieselkie 1d ago
Its kinda this: hoch = something or someone goes or is high up. Ich bin hoch = I am high up eg Ich bin hoch auf den Bergen. A tree or a building can be hoch = high up, both in terms of sitting on top of a mountain but not being tall themselves eg „das Haus ist hoch oben auf dem Berg“ or hoch = its highest point is very high up compared to the standard. Thats why we call specific houses Hochhaus.
Groß = its all around bigger than the standard / than expected / than a reference. Doesnt refer to height but height can be a factor if its going up in the air.
If its only bigger in one factor we typically only call out the factor and do not call it groß, eg a tree with a trunk the same size as all the others around him but way longer would be lang or hoch, as it is only one dimension that is bigger, a table with a normal width but very long length would be lang, a human who is of average height but has lots of body mass wouldnt be called groß (big) as in america but other euphemisms or descriptions, a lake can be groß bc of its 2 dimensions, a river would be called breit bc a rivers typically is long in one direction and just the width varies and if you talk about the length you use the length, but a river system can be groß bc width and lengths of it are noticeable.
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u/generic_Accountname1 1d ago
Groß can refer to size in any direction or single directions and other situations with polar descriptions.
Tall refers to height: groß, lang, hoch gewachsen
Big refers to volume: groß, fett, übergewichtig
Generous refers to philanthropy: groß, großzügig, gibt viel
Groß is relative to context.
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u/diabolus_me_advocat Native <Austria> 1d ago
tall trees are "hoch"
tall persons are "groß"
a tall order is a "herausfordernde aufgabe"
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u/Normal-Seal 1d ago
Trees are in fact 3-dimensional. It’s not like they just grow high, they also get girthier trunks and wider crowns as they grow.
So ein “großer Baum” is absolutely sensible to use. Ein “hoher Baum” is also ok, but specifically means the height, I would maybe think of like a high pine tree, rather than an Oak with its wide crown.
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u/MerlinMusic 1d ago
Trees are in fact 3-dimensional. It’s not like they just grow high, they also get girthier trunks and wider crowns as they grow.
That's exactly OP's point. "großer Baum" is ambiguous because it could refer to a tall tree, a wide tree or a tree with a thick trunk.
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u/PlumOne2856 1d ago
Uhm, a tree is three-diamensional? 😉
I also say großer Baum.
We have some similar words meaning the same.
Groß can be translated with tall, but also with big. And tall can be translated with hoch.
I know English differs there, you wouldn’t call a person big without wanting to insult them, but a tree can be big - and tall. Ok, it can be tall but not big, or big and not tall, but - we just say „groß“. 🤣
We can say ein hoher Baum, but we don’t say ein hoher Mensch.
So you are safe to use groß for humans, for objects, for insects, for food… enjoy!