On your journey through the German language you'll come across quite a few adjectives with the ending -bar.
The suffix "-bar" is best translated as -able/-ible like in "readable" or "edible" and it means the same as in EN: able, possible. Hence:
"lesbar" from "lesen (to read)" means "possible to read"
"essbar" would mean "possible to eat"
If you want to say that something is illegible or inedible you simply add an un- to the front of it:
"unlesbar" meaning "impossible to read"
"unessbar" meaning "impossible to eat"
I don't really want to go much deeper into this topic as it is pretty much identical to the use of -able/-ible in English and -bar covers 99% of your needs.
The only thing that's noteable is that there are two competitors of -bar, namely -lich and zu + Infinitiv which we took a look at in B2 under the name Passiversatz (passive replacement). A few additonal words on those alternative endings:
- -lich basically fullfills the same function but isn't as productive as -bar and therefore much rarer to be found nowadays.
- -bar is put at the end of a verb stem (les.bar) while -lich can be added to noun stems or adjective stems (verständ.lich, rund.lich).While there is a difference between
- Whenever we talk about physical or chemical attributes, -lich is taken: zerbrech.lich (break.able), lös.lich (soluble)
- -bar can often be circumscribed with help of "können" + PII + "werden" which is a Passiv construction (A) or with "sein" + "Infinitiv" (B) or with "sich + Infinitiv + lassen" (C):
A. Das Buch ist gut lesbar. = Das Buch "kann" gut "gelesen werden".
B. Das Buch "ist" gut zu "lesen".
C. Das Buch "lässt sich" gut "lesen".
To make things simple: In case of doubt use -bar. But in case you get bored with -bar, A, B and C make good alternatives.
This topic is covered in: C1-L02