B2-66 · Describe feelings of belonging with -los, -voll, -reich and -arm
Identity and belonging
Use the adjective suffixes -los, -voll, -reich and -arm to talk about Heimat, identity and feeling at home.
About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions
01
Without and full of: -los and -voll
Heimat is the place or feeling where a person belongs, and many people have more than one. The suffix -los means without: heimatlos, respektlos. The suffix -voll means full of: liebevoll, hoffnungsvoll. Aylin talks about moving and about her family's village.
Nach dem Umzug fühlte sich Aylin eine Zeit lang heimatlos.
After the move, Aylin felt for a while that she had no home.
Ihre Großmutter erzählt liebevoll von ihrem Dorf.
Her grandmother talks lovingly about her village.
Die Frage, woher sie wirklich kommt, findet Aylin respektlos.
Aylin finds the question of where she really comes from disrespectful.
Heute blickt sie hoffnungsvoll auf ihr Leben in zwei Kulturen.
Today she looks hopefully at her life in two cultures.
Many nouns ending in -ung, -heit or -keit add a linking s before the suffix: Hoffnung → hoffnungsvoll. Respekt has no linking s: respektvoll, respektlos. Many words form pairs with opposite meanings.
02
Rich in and low in: -reich and -arm
The suffix -reich means having a lot of something: traditionsreich, abwechslungsreich. The suffix -arm means having little of it: kontaktarm, fettarm. Murat describes his home town and his new life.
| Suffix meaning | German examples |
|---|---|
| without | heimatlos, respektlos, orientierungslos |
| full of | liebevoll, hoffnungsvoll, wertvoll |
| rich in | traditionsreich, abwechslungsreich, hilfreich |
| having little of | kontaktarm, fettarm, kalorienarm |
Murat stammt aus einer traditionsreichen Stadt am Rhein.
Murat comes from a town on the Rhine that is rich in tradition.
Sein Alltag zwischen zwei Sprachen ist abwechslungsreich.
His everyday life between two languages is varied.
Anfangs war Murat in der neuen Stadt eher kontaktarm.
At first, Murat had rather few social contacts in the new town.
Der Austausch mit den Nachbarn war für ihn sehr lehrreich.
The exchange with the neighbours was very instructive for him.
Some -reich words have a more general meaning: erfolgreich means successful and lehrreich instructive. -arm is not the same as -los: kontaktarm means with few contacts, not with none at all.
03
The suffix and the ending
These adjectives behave like all other adjectives. After sein or finden they have no ending; before a noun they take the normal adjective ending. Nora and Tim describe what belonging means to them.
Für Nora ist Heimat kein Ort, sondern ein wertvolles Gefühl.
For Nora, Heimat is not a place but a valuable feeling.
Ein respektvoller Umgang hilft, sich zugehörig zu fühlen.
Respectful interaction helps people feel that they belong.
Nach einer orientierungslosen Phase fand Tim seinen Platz in der Gemeinschaft.
After a phase without direction, Tim found his place in the community.
Die Gespräche im Verein sind für ihn heute sehr hilfreich.
The conversations at the club are very helpful for him today.
First choose the suffix for the meaning, then add the ending: ein wertvolles Gefühl, ein respektvoller Umgang, nach einer orientierungslosen Phase. Zugehörig means belonging, wertvoll valuable and wertlos worthless.
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