When you want to describe the complex flavor profile of an experimental craft beer, you need a good variety of adjectives. In German, you can easily build new descriptive words by attaching specific suffixes to nouns and other adjectives.
The Suffix -ig
Adding -ig to a noun is the most common way to create an adjective. It usually means "having the quality of" or "containing" the noun, very similar to adding "-y" in English.
For example, das Malz (malt) becomes malzig (malty), and die Frucht (fruit) becomes fruchtig (fruity). Occasionally, the root vowel will gain an umlaut, like das Wasser (water) becoming wässrig (watery).
| Neither is the beer malty, nor does it taste fruity. | Weder ist das Bier malzig, noch schmeckt es fruchtig. |
The Suffix -isch
The suffix -isch corresponds closely to the English endings "-ic" or "-ical". It is frequently used to describe materials or to derive adjectives from foreign loanwords.
For instance, das Metall becomes metallisch (metallic), and der Alkohol becomes alkoholisch (alcoholic).
| The first beer tastes very hoppy and a little bit metallic. | Das erste Bier schmeckt sehr hopfig und ein bisschen metallisch. |
The Suffix -lich
While -lich is often used to turn nouns into adjectives, you will also see it attached to an existing adjective to soften its intensity, much like "-ish" in English.
If a beverage is süß (sweet), adding this suffix makes it süßlich (sweetish—just a little bit sweet).
| The ripe fruit makes the taste very fruity and a little sweetish. | Die reife Frucht macht den Geschmack sehr fruchtig und ein bisschen süßlich. |
| This beer has a lot of alcohol, but it tastes sweetish and not alcoholic. | Dieses Bier hat viel Alkohol, aber es schmeckt süßlich und nicht alkoholisch. |
