bad / very
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bad
A shortened form of 'böse' (bad/evil), used especially in poetry, dialects, or in southern Germany and Austria. It means bad, nasty, or severe.
Das war ein ganz bös' Foul beim Fußballspiel.
That was a really bad foul in the soccer game.
very / badly
In some dialects, it can be used as an adverb meaning 'very' or 'badly' to intensify an adjective or verb.
Ich habe mich bös am Finger geschnitten.
I cut my finger really badly.
'Bös' is a shortened form of 'böse' (bad/evil) and is mainly used in southern Germany, Austria, in dialects, or in poetry. In standard written German, this form is uncommon.
Pass auf, das ist ein ganz bös' Hund.
Watch out, that's a really bad dog.
When 'bös' stands before a noun, it is often not declined in spoken language or dialect. So you might hear, for example, 'ein bös Spiel' instead of the grammatically correct form 'ein böses Spiel' (a bad game).
Das war ein bös Foul, fand der Schiedsrichter.
That was a bad foul, the referee thought.
In some regional dialects, 'bös' is used as an adverb to intensify another word. It then means 'very' or 'badly'.
Die Prüfung war bös schwer.
The exam was really hard.
