adjective
lazy, rotten
A2
'faul' primarily means lazy (person) and also rotten or stale for food. It's a gradable adjective: comparative fauler, superlative am faulsten. Common antonym: fleißig. Not a participle. Use attributively or predicatively with normal adjective endings (ein fauler Schüler; Die Frucht ist faul). Context determines meaning.
Examples
Die Frucht ist faul, wir müssen sie wegwerfen.
The fruit is rotten; we have to throw it away.
Mein Bruder ist oft faul und macht seine Arbeit nicht.
My brother is often lazy and doesn't do his work.
Der Student war faul, sodass die Professorin ihn im Seminar stärker forderte.
The student was lazy, so the professor challenged him more in the seminar.
Details
Mnemonics
A person lying on a couch (lazy); an apple with brown spots (rotten).
Think 'foul' (something bad) -> rotten; also 'fault' like laziness.
Notes
Adjective with two main senses: describing a person's laziness or food that is rotten/decayed.