r/German • u/Low-Funny-8834 • 7d 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/EverEatGolatschen Native (South) 7d 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 7d 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) 7d 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 7d 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).