German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle High German diser/dirre, disiu, diz, from Old High German desēr, disiu, diz, from the Old High German demonstrative pronoun der, from Proto-Germanic *sa, from Proto-Indo-European *tód. Akin to Old Saxon these.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • IPA(key): /ˈdiːzər/
  • (standard in most parts of Germany) IPA(key): [ˈdiːzɐ]
  • (standard in Switzerland, one of several standards in Bavaria and Austria) IPA(key): [ˈd̥iːz̥ər]
  • IPA(key): /ˈdɪzɐ/ (colloquial; chiefly western Germany)
  • Hyphenation: die‧ser

Pronoun

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dieser (demonstrative)

  1. this one, this
  2. that one, that

Usage notes

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  • See dieses and dies for the use of these two variants of the nominative/accusative neuter.
  • Unlike English “this”, German dieser is not necessarily restricted to what is close to the speaker. The pronoun is indeed more likely to be used referring to something close, but it is by no means uncommon to say, for example: Siehst du diesen Turm da hinten am Horizont? Literally: “Do you see this tower back there at the horizon?”

Declension

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Declension of dieser
masculine feminine neuter plural
nominative dieser diese dieses diese
genitive dieses dieser dieses dieser
dative diesem dieser diesem diesen
accusative diesen diese dieses diese

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • dieser” in Duden online
  • dieser” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache