small
The German adjective 'klein' means small or little in English.
adjective
Meaning: small in size
Das ist ein kleines Haus.
That is a small house.
Meaning: young
Mein kleiner Bruder ist erst fünf Jahre alt.
My little brother is only five years old.
Meaning: insignificant
Das ist nur eine kleine Sache.
That is just a small matter.
Meaning: petty
Er hat sich über eine kleine Sache aufgeregt.
He got upset over a petty thing.
Ich habe einen kleinen Hund.
I have a small dog.
Das ist ein kleines Haus.
That is a small house.
Sie trägt eine kleine Tasche.
She is carrying a small bag.
Der kleine Junge spielt im Park.
The little boy is playing in the park.
Meine Schwester hat eine kleine Wohnung in der Stadt.
My sister has a small apartment in the city.
Die Katze ist zu klein für den Korb.
The cat is too small for the basket.
Ich werde mir ein kleineres Auto kaufen, um Sprit zu sparen.
I will buy a smaller car to save on gas.
Er hat sich über die Kleinigkeit geärgert.
He got upset over the trivial matter.
Die Firma hat durch kleine Verbesserungen ihre Effizienz gesteigert.
The company increased its efficiency through small improvements.
Klein is a commonly used adjective in the German language, and it can be used to describe a variety of things. When used to describe objects, it usually refers to their physical size. For example, 'ein kleines Auto' would mean a small car. Similarly, 'ein kleines Haus' would mean a little house. It can also be used to describe people or animals, indicating that they are physically small.
However, klein can also be used to describe something as insignificant or unimportant. For instance, 'eine kleine Sache' would mean a small matter or issue. In this context, the word does not necessarily refer to physical size but rather the level of importance or significance.
It's worth noting that the word klein can have different endings depending on the gender and case of the noun it is describing. This is because German has grammatical cases that require adjectives to change their form accordingly. For example, 'kleiner Hund' (masculine) becomes 'kleine Katze' (feminine) when describing a female cat.