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Courses from A1 to B2: short video lessons, quizzes and printable charts for every topic, in the right order.
See the coursesBeing able to say how you feel is one of the first things that makes a language feel yours. You can order a coffee and ask for directions with memorized phrases, but the moment you say Ich bin so glücklich (I'm so happy) or Ich bin gestresst (I'm stressed), you're actually communicating. This guide gives you the German emotions vocabulary you need to describe your own feelings and understand other people's — plus the small grammar tricks that trip up almost every A2 learner along the way.
We'll cover the core adjectives (happy, sad, angry, nervous), the nouns behind them (die Freude, die Angst), and — most importantly — how to build correct sentences with all of them. By the end you'll be able to answer Wie geht's dir? (How are you?) with a lot more than gut.
The most common way to express a feeling in German is with the pattern sein + adjective:
Ich bin ... — I am ...
For example:
This works exactly like English, which is why it's the perfect place to start. The adjective does not change its ending after sein, so you don't have to worry about German adjective endings here — Ich bin glücklich, Er ist glücklich, Wir sind glücklich. The word stays the same every time.
But German has two other important patterns for emotions, and mixing them up is one of the common mistakes English speakers make. Let's look at all three.
Use this for most everyday emotions and states:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Ich bin froh. | I'm glad. |
| Ich bin wütend. | I'm angry / furious. |
| Ich bin gelangweilt. | I'm bored. |
| Ich bin überrascht. | I'm surprised. |
| Ich bin entspannt. | I'm relaxed. |
Here's where German surprises English speakers. Some feelings are expressed with haben (to have) plus a noun, not sein plus an adjective. The classic example:
You would never say Ich bin Angst — that's a beginner giveaway. Learning which feelings take haben is mostly a matter of memorizing a handful of common ones, and a game like Memory Match is a great way to burn these pairs into your head.
The reflexive verb sich fühlen means "to feel," and it's perfect when you want to describe how you feel more generally:
Notice the little word mich — that's the reflexive pronoun, and it changes with the subject (ich fühle mich, du fühlst dich, er fühlt sich). If reflexive verbs are new to you, our guide to German pronouns breaks down exactly how they work.
Here's a themed vocabulary list you can actually use. We've grouped emotions from positive to negative and included the article for every noun, because in German you always learn a noun together with its gender.
| German | English | As a noun |
|---|---|---|
| glücklich | happy | das Glück (happiness) |
| froh | glad | die Freude (joy) |
| fröhlich | cheerful | — |
| zufrieden | content, satisfied | die Zufriedenheit |
| aufgeregt | excited | die Aufregung |
| stolz | proud | der Stolz |
| dankbar | grateful | die Dankbarkeit |
| verliebt | in love | die Liebe (love) |
| entspannt | relaxed | die Entspannung |
Example: Ich bin so stolz auf dich! — I'm so proud of you!
| German | English | As a noun |
|---|---|---|
| traurig | sad | die Traurigkeit |
| wütend | angry, furious | die Wut (rage) |
| ängstlich | anxious, fearful | die Angst (fear) |
| nervös | nervous | die Nervosität |
| gestresst | stressed | der Stress |
| enttäuscht | disappointed | die Enttäuschung |
| eifersüchtig | jealous | die Eifersucht |
| einsam | lonely | die Einsamkeit |
| genervt | annoyed | — |
| verzweifelt | desperate | die Verzweiflung |
Example: Er war sehr enttäuscht über das Ergebnis. — He was very disappointed about the result.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| müde | tired |
| erschöpft | exhausted |
| überrascht | surprised |
| verwirrt | confused |
| gelangweilt | bored |
| neugierig | curious |
A great way to lock these words in is to hunt for them in context. Try our German Word Search with a vocabulary theme, or run through the vocabulary quizzes to test yourself under a bit of pressure — retrieval practice beats re-reading a list every time.
Real feelings aren't binary, so you'll want to dial them up and down. Drop one of these little words before the adjective:
These intensifiers instantly make your German sound more natural and less robotic.
To describe someone else, just swap the verb form. Remember German verb conjugation changes the ending of sein and haben:
You can also ask how someone feels:
And a few natural replies beyond the textbook gut:
Beyond describing states, these verbs let you talk about emotional reactions:
Notice how many emotion verbs are reflexive (sich freuen, sich ärgern, sich aufregen). That's not a coincidence — German loves to package inner reactions as things that happen "to yourself." If you want to go deeper, our verb conjugation guide has the full pattern with practice.
1. Saying Ich bin heiß when you mean you feel hot. Ich bin heiß implies you're... attractive. Say Mir ist heiß (I'm hot, temperature) or Mir ist kalt (I'm cold). Physical sensations often use the dative mir, not ich bin.
2. Using sein with fear. It's Ich habe Angst, never Ich bin Angst. Same for Hunger, Durst, and Stress — they take haben.
3. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun. With sich fühlen you must include mich/dich/sich: Ich fühle mich gut, not Ich fühle gut.
4. Overusing glücklich. In German, glücklich is fairly strong — closer to "deeply happy" or "fortunate." For everyday "I'm happy about that," Germans usually say Ich freue mich or Ich bin froh.
Vocabulary sticks when you use it, not when you stare at it. Here's a quick routine:
If you want structured practice on your phone with themed vocabulary decks, mini-games, and pronunciation help, download the Deutschwunder app — it's built specifically for German learners and turns lists like this into something you'll actually remember.
Building up your German emotions vocabulary is a small skill with a big payoff: being able to name your feelings is the difference between reciting a language and living in it. Viel Erfolg — und viel Freude dabei! (Good luck — and have fun with it!)
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