klein
Meaning in English: small, little
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Unsere Wohnung ist klein, aber gemütlich.
Our flat is small but cosy.
Forms of klein in the top 5,000
These forms of klein are in the top 5,000 as well — German adds endings for gender, case and number:
Wir wohnen in einem kleinen Dorf.
We live in a small village.
Die kleine Katze schläft auf dem Sofa.
The little cat is sleeping on the sofa.
Mein Bruder ist zwei Jahre kleiner als ich.
My brother is two years younger than me.
Wir haben ein kleines Haus am See.
We have a small house by the lake.
Wir suchen eine kleinere Wohnung.
We're looking for a smaller flat.
Haben Sie die Schuhe auch in einer kleineren Größe?
Do you have these shoes in a smaller size too?
How common is klein?
klein is number 1,968 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 47 times per million words — about once every 21,000 words. Its most frequent form is kleinen (#424).
Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 71% of the words in an ordinary German text. A1 means a beginner word, usually met in the first weeks of learning.
Next to it in the frequency list
- 1,964hoherhigh (inflected)
- 1,965trafmet, hit (past)
- 1,966einstonce, formerly
- 1,967die Beziehungrelationship, connection
- 1,968kleinsmall, little
- 1,969bestehendeexisting
- 1,970Bundesof the federation (genitive)
- 1,971der Fußfoot
- 1,972der Computercomputer(s)
In these word lists
- The 5,000 most common German words#1,968
- The most common German adjectives#296
- German A1 vocabulary#526
Translations, levels and examples were written with AI help and are awaiting review by a native speaker — how the list was made.