diff --git a/builtin/describe.c b/builtin/describe.c
index 45adbf67d5..a5cd8c513f 100644
--- a/builtin/describe.c
+++ b/builtin/describe.c
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ struct commit_name {
 };
 
 static const char *prio_names[] = {
-	"head", "lightweight", "annotated",
+	N_("head"), N_("lightweight"), N_("annotated"),
 };
 
 static int commit_name_cmp(const struct commit_name *cn1,
@@ -395,10 +395,19 @@ static void describe(const char *arg, int last_one)
 	free_commit_list(list);
 
 	if (debug) {
+		static int label_width = -1;
+		if (label_width < 0) {
+			int i, w;
+			for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(prio_names); i++) {
+				w = strlen(_(prio_names[i]));
+				if (label_width < w)
+					label_width = w;
+			}
+		}
 		for (cur_match = 0; cur_match < match_cnt; cur_match++) {
 			struct possible_tag *t = &all_matches[cur_match];
-			fprintf(stderr, " %-11s %8d %s\n",
-				prio_names[t->name->prio],
+			fprintf(stderr, " %-*s %8d %s\n",
+				label_width, _(prio_names[t->name->prio]),
 				t->depth, t->name->path);
 		}
 		fprintf(stderr, _("traversed %lu commits\n"), seen_commits);
diff --git a/po/de.po b/po/de.po
index e9c86f5488..913db393dc 100644
--- a/po/de.po
+++ b/po/de.po
@@ -7530,7 +7530,19 @@ msgstr "git describe [<Optionen>] [<Commit-Angabe>...]"
 msgid "git describe [<options>] --dirty"
 msgstr "git describe [<Optionen>] --dirty"
 
-#: builtin/describe.c:217
+#: builtin/describe.c:52
+msgid "head"
+msgstr "Branch"
+
+#: builtin/describe.c:52
+msgid "lightweight"
+msgstr "nicht-annotiert"
+
+#: builtin/describe.c:52
+msgid "annotated"
+msgstr "annotiert"
+
+#: builtin/describe.c:249
 #, c-format
 msgid "annotated tag %s not available"
 msgstr "annotiertes Tag %s ist nicht verfügbar"