er

See also: Appendix:Variations of "er"

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ûr, IPA^(key): /ɜː/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː
• Used in non-rhotic dialects. Compare uh.

Etymology 1

Mimetic (sound of hesitation)

Interjection

er

1. Said when hesitating in speech.
   • 2012, Linda Miller, Desire and Destiny:

     If he—er—disappears—well, it seems to me that we'd both benefit.

   • 2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, "Story" (Mona), in Shovel Knight Showdown (version 4.1), Nintendo Switch:

     Liquid Samurai: 'FORMLESS AND INFINITE ARE WE, THE LIQUID SAMURAI. I SERVE MY QUEEN, AS WE HAVE FOR COUNTLESS--' / Mona: 'HEY, I DON'T MEAN TO INTERRUPT, BUT YOU SEEM LIKE YOU'RE MADE OF POWERFUL STUFF. CAN I, ER, STUDY YOU?'

Verb

er (third-person singular simple present ers, present participle erring, simple past and past participle erred)

1. (informal) To utter the word "er" when hesitating in speech, found in the phrase um and er.

   He ummed and erred his way through the presentation.

See also

• ah
• uh
• um

Etymology 2

Noun

er (plural ers)

1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter Р / р.

Anagrams

• 're, RE, Re, Ré, r.e., re, re-

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æːr/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

er (plural erre or ers, diminutive erretjie)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter R.

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Old High German er, from Proto-Germanic *iz. Cognate with German er.

Pronoun

er m

1. (personal) he; it

Declension

Alemannic German personal pronouns

		nominative	accusative	dative	possessive m
1st person singular		ich, i	mich, mi	mir, mier, mer	min, miin
2nd person singular	familiar	du	dich, di	dir, dier, der	din, diin
	polite	Si		Ine, Ene, -ne	Ire
3rd person singular	m	er	in, en	im	sin, siin
	f	si		ire
	n	es, 's, -s		im	sin, siin
1st person plural		mir, mer	üs, öis, ois, eus		üse, öise, oise, euse
2nd person plural		ir, ier	öi, eu		öie, eure
3rd person plural		si		ine, ene, -ne	ire

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• ea (phonetic spelling)
• a (unstressed form)

Etymology

From Middle High German er, from Old High German er (“he”). Cognate with German er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɐ̯/

Pronoun

er

1. he

See also

Bavarian personal pronouns

		nominative		accusative		dative
		stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
1st person singular		i	—	mi	—	mia (mir)	ma
2nd person singular (informal)		du	—	di	—	dia (dir)	da
2nd person singular (formal)		Sie	—	Eahna	—	Eahna	—
3rd person singular	m	er	a	eahm	'n	eahm	'n
	n	es, des	's	des	's
	f	se, de	's	se	's	ihr	—
1st person plural		mia (mir)	ma	uns	—	uns	—
2nd person plural		eß, ihr	—	enk, eich	—	enk, eich	—
3rd person plural		se	's	eahna	—	eahna	—

Breton

Contraction

er

1. Contraction of e ur (“in a(n)”).
2. Contraction of e ar (“in the”).

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• èar (Sette Comuni)

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German er, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ (“he, it”), from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he, she, it, they”). Cognate with German er.

Pronoun

er

1. (Luserna) he, it

Inflection

Personal pronouns
	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	iar
3rd person	er, si, 'z	se

References

• “er” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Cornish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eːɹ]

Etymology 1

From Old Cornish er, from Proto-Celtic *eriros (“eagle”) (compare Breton erer, Welsh eryr, Old Irish *irar), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érō (“large bird”).

er (an eagle)

Noun

er m (plural eryon or eres)

1. eagle

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

er m (plural erys)

1. heir

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

er

1. Soft mutation of ger.

Crimean Tatar

Adjective

er

1. every

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛr]

Noun

er n (indeclinable)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter R.

Further reading

• er in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• er in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish ær, Proto-Germanic *izum, *izud, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). The infinitive of the verb (være) is from a different PIE root; the present tense is suppletive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛr/, [ɛɐ̯], [ɛɒ̯̽], but often elided in spontaneous speech.

Verb

er

1. present of være

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛr/, /ər/, /dər/

Etymology 1

Weak form of der, the unstressed form of daar ("there")

Adverb

er

1. there (unspecific to distance)
2. (with a preposition) it; him, her, them.

   Ik heb ermee gewerkt.

   I have worked with it/them.

   Je kunt er de bergen boven zien.

   You can see the mountains above it/them.

Usage notes

• Er is an unstressed variety of hier and daar, used when it is not needed to emphasize the specific location relative to the speaker.
• With a preposition, er is used instead of hem, haar, het, ze to create a pronominal adverb. See also Category:Dutch pronominal adverbs.

Descendants

• Petjo: d'r

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch iro, genitive of the personal pronoun (3rd person plural).

Adverb

er

1. (partitive pronoun) of them, of those (often not translated in English)

   Mijn broer heeft drie kinderen en ik heb er twee.

   My brother has three children and I have two. (literally: two of those)

   Ik zie er geen meer.

   I don't see any more (of them).

Synonyms

• ervan

Derived terms

See Category:Dutch pronominal adverbs

Related terms

• daar
• hier
• waar

See also

• er zijn

Anagrams

• re

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːɹ/

Verb

er

1. third-person singular indicative present of vera

   Hann er skipari.

   He is a captain/skipper.

   Hon er úr Føroyum.

   She is from the Faroe Islands.

   Tað er í ordan.

   It's all right.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German er, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ, from Proto-Germanic *iz. In northern Middle High German and Old High German there also existed forms with initial h-, namely Middle High German her, Old High German her, from Proto-Germanic *hiz, whence Central Franconian hä and (from the accusative) Luxembourgish hien. Compare English he. The unusual spelling ih- in the forms ihm, ihn is not related to this. It was introduced in early modern German to distinguish these forms from im, in (when *iem, *ien could have been read as *jem, *jen).

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /eːr/, [ʔeːɐ̯], [ʔɛɐ̯]

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːɐ̯
• Homophone: Ehr

• (colloquially in unstressed position) IPA^(key): /ɐ/

Pronoun

er

1. (personal) he.

   (file)

   Wo ist Klaus? Wo ist er? ― Where is Klaus? Where is he?

   (file)

   Dies ist mein Hund. Er heißt Waldi. ― This is my dog. His name is Waldi.

2. (personal) it (when the grammatical gender of the object/article/thing/animal etc., being referred to, is masculine (der)).

   (file)

   Dort steht ein Baum. Er ist über hundert Jahre alt. ― There stands a tree. It is more than 100 years old.

3. (personal) she (when the grammatical gender of the noun being referred to and designating a female person, is masculine (der)).

   (file)

   Im Frauengefängnis versuchte ein Häftling zu flüchten, aber er kam nicht weit. ― In the women’s prison, an inmate tried to escape, but she didn’t get very far.

4. (personal, archaic) Alternative spelling of Er (you (polite))
   • (Can we date this quote?), Clemens Brentano, Geschichte vom braven Kasperl und dem schönen Annerl (edited). In: 1835, F. W. Gubitz (editor), Jahrbuch des Nützlichen und Unterhaltenden für 1835, p. 171:

     Da fuhr die Alte überraſcht auf und ſprach: Lieber Herr, gehe er doch nach Haus und bete er fein und lege er ſich ſchlafen.

     Then the old woman sprang up, surprised, and said: Dear gentleman, do go home and say your prayers and go to bed.

   • 1837, Brothers Grimm, “Der junge Riese”, in Kinder- und Haus-Märchen, Band 2‎^[1], page 27:

     Da sprach er „Vater, ich sehe wohl, bei ihm werd ich nicht satt, will er mir einen Stab von Eisen verschaffen, der stark ist, und den ich vor meinen Knien nicht zerbrechen kann, so will ich wieder fort gehen.“ Da war der Bauer froh, und spannte seine zwei Pferde vor den Wagen, fuhr zum Schmied, und holte einen Stab so groß und dick, als ihn die zwei Pferde nur fahren konnten.

     Then he said: "Father, I can see that I shall not be able to eat my fill here. If you bring me a strong rod of iron that I cannot break, I shall go away again." Then the farmer was glad, and he harnessed his horses to the wagon, drove to the smithy, and fetched a rod so long and thick that his two horses could barely pull it.

Declension

German personal pronouns

	singular					plural			singular and plural
	1st person	2nd person familiar1	3rd person			1st person	2nd person familiar1	3rd person	2nd person polite/formal
			m	f	n
nominative	ich	du -e2	er	sie -se2	es	wir	ihr	sie -se2	Sie Ihr3
genitive	meiner mein3	deiner dein3	seiner sein3	ihrer	seiner sein3	unser	euer	ihrer	Ihrer Euer3
dative	mir	dir	ihm	ihr	ihm	uns	euch	ihnen	Ihnen Euch3
accusative	mich	dich	ihn	sie -se2	es	uns	euch	sie -se2	Sie Euch3

¹These forms are sometimes capitalized, especially in letters.    ²enclitic, colloquial    ³archaic

• In contemporary German, the genitive forms of personal pronouns are restricted to formal style and are infrequent even then. They may be used:
  • for the genitive object still found in a handful of verbs: Ich erbarmte mich seiner. – "I had mercy on him". (Colloquially one would either use the dative case, or a prepositional object, or replace the verb with another.)
  • with certain adjectives or prepositions that govern the genitive, such as statt ("instead of, in place of"): Ich kam statt seiner in die Mannschaft. – I joined the team in his place. (This sounds antiquated, for which reason an seiner Statt or an seiner Stelle is preferable.)
• Older forms/spellings include:
  • jm (dative; 16th century), jn (accusative; 16th century) – distinguished from im (“in the, into the”) and in (“in, into”)
  • ihme (dative)

Derived terms

• hatter (hat er; colloquial)

Further reading

• “er” in Duden online
• “er” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• “er” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• ëyer (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Old High German er, from Proto-Germanic *iz. Displaced the northern Old High German forms with h-, e.g. hē, her (see he).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛɐ/

Pronoun

er

1. he

Inflection

Hunsrik personal pronouns

	nominative		accusative		dative
	Proclitic	Enclitic	str.	unstr.	str.	unstr.
1st person singular	ich eich	-ich	mich meich		meer	mer m'r
2nd person singular (informal)	du dau/Dau	-du, -de -Dau, -De	dich deich/Deich		deer	der d'r/D'r
3rd person singular (m.)	er; där	-er	ihn	en	ihm	em
3rd person singular (f.)	sie; die	-se	sie / ihns	se	eer ehr	re
3rd person singular (n.)	es; das et, 't	's	es et	-et, -'t	ihm	em
1st person plural	meer	mer	uns uhs
2nd person plural	deer Ehr, Dehr	der	eich Auch
3rd person plural	sie; die	-se	sie	se	denne

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛːr/

Etymology 1

Old Norse er (“is”, 3rd person singular), analogical leveling of earlier es, from Proto-Germanic *isti, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti.

Use with the 1st person singular is also by analogy with other forms in er-; the Old Norse 1st person singular form was em.

Verb

er

1. first-person singular indicative present of vera

   Ég er skemmtilegur.

   I am fun (masculine)

   Hver er ég?

   Who am I?

2. third-person singular indicative present of vera

   Veit einhver hvar pabbi minn er?

   Does anybody know where my dad is?

   Hver er hann?

   Who is he?

Etymology 2

Old Norse er, from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he”), from Proto-Indo-European *ís (“he, that”).

Pronoun

er

1. (relative) which

   Maður er sá, er Jón heitir.

   There is a man who is named John.

   Konan, er hann var að tala við.

   The woman to whom he was talking.

   Þetta er borgin, er hann kom frá.

   This is the city from which he originated.

   Bærinn, er hún ætlar til.

   The town to which she's heading.

2. (archaic) in relations with a demonstrative pronoun (this, that, these) or personal pronoun (I, we, they), which represents the genitive of a relative pronoun.

   Það er sú bók, er menn þekkja eigi höfund hennar.

   There is a book whose author people don't know.

Conjunction

er

1. (with an "indexical"; ábendingarorð) of a place, of a time
   • Judges 2:19

     En er dómarinn andaðist, breyttu þeir að nýju verr en feður þeirra, með því að elta aðra guði til þess að þjóna þeim og falla fram fyrir þeim. Þeir létu eigi af gjörðum sínum né þrjóskubreytni sinni.

     But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

   Þar er ég kom.

   There whence I came.

   Þá er myndin var búin.

   When the movie was finished.

Derived terms

• þá er þegar

References

• "er", in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛr/, [ˈɛr]

Noun

èr

1. The name of the Latin-script letter R/r.

Synonyms

• ar (Standard Malay)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet

Further reading

• “er” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Alternative forms

• 'r (after vowels)

Article

er m sg

1. (Roman) Dialectal form of el, whence modern il

Jamtish

Verb

er

1. present indicative of vara

Japanese

Alternative forms

• ler(ラー) (-rā)

Etymology

From English -er, forming novel pseudo-Anglicisms.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a̠ː]

Suffix

er(アー) • (-ā) 

1. (slang) Suffix used for people, especially fans.

Derived terms

Japanese terms suffixed with er

Japanese terms suffixed with ler

Related terms

• ist(イスト) (-isuto)

Further reading

• 難波功士 [Koji Nanba] (2006) “〈研究ノート〉“-er”の系譜：サブカルチュラル・アイデンティティの現在 [The History of Neology Using the Suffix ‘-er’ in Japanese: In terms of sub-cultural identities of youths]”, in 関西学院大学社会学部紀要‎^[2], number 100, pages 181–189

Kembra

Noun

er

1. water

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *hēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰḗr (“hedgehog”) (whence also Ancient Greek χήρ (khḗr, “hedgehog”)), a root noun from *ǵʰer- (“to be excited, be bristly”), whence also Ancient Greek χοῖρος (khoîros, “young pig”) and Albanian derr (“pig”) from *ǵʰór-yos.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eːr/, [eːr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /er/, [ɛr]

Noun

ēr m (genitive ēris); third declension

1. hedgehog

Usage notes

There is some uncertainty as to the exact forms of this word, especially regarding whether the lemma form of this was ēr or ēris, as the forms attested in literature could point to either option. Another form, irim (acc. sing.; found in Plautus, Capt. 184), seems to be a spelling variant.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ēr	ērēs
Genitive	ēris	ērum
Dative	ērī	ēribus
Accusative	ērem	ērēs
Ablative	ēre	ēribus
Vocative	ēr	ērēs

Related terms

• ēricius (“hedgehog; picket”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /er/, [ɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /er/, [ɛr]

Noun

er f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter R.

Usage notes

• Multiple Latin names for the letter R, r have been suggested. The most common is er or a syllabic r, although there is some evidence which also supports, as names for the letter, rē, rrr, ər, rə, and even (in the fourth- or fifth-century first Antinoë papyrus, which gives Greek transliterations of the Latin names of the Roman alphabet’s letters) ιρρε (irrhe).

Coordinate terms

• (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

• "ēr", in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ēr in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), especially pages 30–31, 42–44, and 63

Latvian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛɾ]

(file)

Noun

er m (invariable)

1. The Latvian name of the Latin script letter R/r.

See also

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A), garais ā (Ā), bē (B), cē (C), čē (Č), dē (D), e (E), garais ē (Ē), ef (F), gā (G), ģē (Ģ), hā (H), i (I), garais ī (Ī), jē (J), kā (K), ķē (Ķ), el (L), eļ (Ļ), em (M), en (N), eņ (Ņ), o (O), pē (P), er (R), es (S), eš (Š), tē (T), u (U), garais ū (Ū), vē (V), zē (Z), žē (Ž)

Low German

Pronoun

er

1. Alternative spelling of ehr

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛr/

Noun

er m inan

1. The name of the Latin-script letter r.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) a, bej, cej, čet, ćej, dej, ej, ět, ef, gej, ha, cha, i, jot, ka, eł, el, em, en, ejn, o, pej, er, ejŕ, es, eš, śej, tej, u, wej, y, zet, žet, źej

Mambae

Noun

er

1. water

References

• Mambai Language Manual: Ainaro Dialect (2001)

Mandarin

Romanization

er

1. Nonstandard spelling of ēr.
2. Nonstandard spelling of ér.
3. Nonstandard spelling of ěr.
4. Nonstandard spelling of èr.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish for.

Preposition

er

1. on
2. onto
3. during
4. for

Inflection

	Singular				Plural
Person	1st	2nd	3rd m.	3rd f.	1st	2nd	3rd
Normal	orrym	ort	er	urree	orrin	erriu	orroo
Emphatic	orryms	orts	ersyn	urreeish	orrinyn	erriuish	orroosyn

Pronoun

er

1. third-person singular of er

   on him/it

Derived terms

• ersyn (emphatic)

Middle Dutch

Adverb

er

1. unstressed form of dāer

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English ǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛːr/

Adverb

er

1. early
2. earlier
3. formerly
4. rather

Derived terms

• erly

Descendants

• English: ere
• Scots: air
• Yola: ear

References

• “ēr, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2020-05-25.

Etymology 2

Determiner

er

1. Alternative form of hire (“her”, genitive)

Pronoun

er

1. Alternative form of hire (“hers”)

Etymology 3

Pronoun

er

1. Alternative form of hire (“her”, object)

Etymology 4

Noun

er

1. Alternative form of eere (“ear of grain”)

Etymology 5

Determiner

er

1. Alternative form of here (“their”)

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German er, from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he”).

Pronoun

ër

1. (personal) he

Inflection

Middle High German personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Singular	First		ich	mîn	mir	mich
	Second		du, dû	dîn	dir	dich
	Third	Masculine	ër	sîn	im(e)	in
		Feminine	siu (sî, si)	ir(e)	ir(e)	sie (sî, si)
		Neuter	ëȥ	es	im(e)	ëȥ
Plural	First		wir	unser	uns	unsich, uns
	Second		ir	iuwer	iu	iuch
	Third	Masculine	sie (sî, si)	ir(e)	in	sie (sî, si)
		Feminine
		Neuter	siu, (sî, si)			siu (sî, si)

Descendants

• Alemannic German:

  Low Alemannic:

  Alsatian: ar, er, ër

  Badisch: er

  High Alemannic: er, är

  Bernese: är

  Lucerne: aer

  Northeastern: ar

  Walser: är

• Swabian: er, ear

  Swabian Jura: ear

• Bavarian: er
  • Cimbrian: èar, er, ar
  • Mòcheno: er
• Central Franconian:

  Moselle Franconian: er

  • Hunsrik: er, ëyer
• East Central German:

  High Prussian: er

  Silesian East Central German:

  Lower Silesian East Central German: a

  Upper Silesian East Central German: a

  North Moravian: ar

  Thuringian: er

  Central Thuringian: er

  West Thuringian: aa

  Upper Saxon German: är

  Meißnisch: är

  Osterländisch: är

  Erzgebirgisch: aorr

  Lusatian: ar

• German: er

  Berlinerisch: er/ea

• East Franconian: er, ea

  Unterfränkisch: ar

  Hohenlohisch: er

• Rhine Franconian:

  Upper Hessian: er

  Lorraine Franconian: ér, éa

  Palatine German: er

  • Pennsylvania German: er
• Yiddish: ער (er)

References

• Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “ër”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke‎^[3], Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German er, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ (“he, it”), from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he, she, it, they”). Cognate with German er.

Pronoun

er

1. he, it

Inflection

Personal pronouns
	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	ir
3rd person	er, si, s	sei

References

• “er” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːɾ/, [æːɾ]

Verb

er

1. present of være (=to be)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æː(r)/, /eː(r)/

Verb

er

1. is, are, am (present of to be) present of vera

   Eg er framand. ― I am a stranger.

2. (auxiliary) be

   Boka er skriven. ― The book is written

   Bøkene er skrivne. ― The books are written.

References

• “vera” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “er på engelsk”, in DinOrdbok, Nynorsk-engelsk oversettelse, 2018 October 15 (last accessed)

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz.

Preposition

ēr

1. before, earlier than

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: êer
  • Dutch: eer
  • Limburgish: ieër

Further reading

• “ēr (II)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Conjunction

ēr

1. ere, afore

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: êer
  • Dutch: eer
  • Limburgish: ieër

Further reading

• “ēr (III)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Adverb

ēr

1. previously, in an earlier period, in a bygone time
2. earlier, before a certain time or period

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: êer

Further reading

• “ēr (I)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old Frisian

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz. Cognates include Old English ǣr, Old Saxon ēr and Old Dutch ēr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeːr/, [ˈɛːr]

Adverb

ēr

1. earlier, previously

Preposition

ēr (+ dative)

1. before (of time)

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: eer
• West Frisian: ear't

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeːr/, [ˈɛːr]

Noun

ēr f

1. Alternative form of ēre

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz, whence also Old English ær.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːr/

Adjective

ēr

1. early

Adverb

ēr

1. ere, before
2. formerly

Conjunction

ēr

1. before, until

Preposition

ēr (+ dative)

1. before

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *aiz, akin to Old English ār, Old Norse eir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːr/

Noun

ēr n

1. ore
2. brass

Descendants

• Middle High German: er
  • Alemannic German: Eer
    • ⇒ Alemannic German: eerig
• ⇒ Old High German: ērīn
  • Middle High German: ērīn
    • German: ehern

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *iz (“he”), akin to Gothic 𐌹𐍃 (is, “he”), Latin is (“he”).

Alternative forms

• her (northern)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /er/

Pronoun

er

1. he
   • c. 825, Tatian, Diatessaron, translation, Chapter 13, verse 20.

     […] Bist thu wīzago? inti her antlingota nein […]

     […] Are you prophet? and he responded no […]

Inflection

Old High German personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Singular	First		ih (ihha, ihcha)	mīn	mir	mih
	Second		dū	dīn	dir	dih
	Third	Masculine	er (her)	(sīn)	imu, imo	inan, in
		Feminine	siu; sī, si	ira (iru, iro)	iru, iro	sia
		Neuter	iz	es, is	imu, imo	iz
Plural	First		wir	unsēr	uns	unsih
	Second		ir	iuwēr	iu	iuwih
	Third	Masculine	sie	iro	im, in	sie
		Feminine	sio	iro	im, in	sio
		Neuter	siu	iro	im, in	siu
Polite form	Second		ir	iuwēr	iu	iuwih

Descendants

• Middle High German: ër (see there for further descendants)

References

• Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• es, -'s

Etymology 1

From earlier es, from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he; 3rd person personal pronoun”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌹𐍃 (is), Old High German ēr (German er).

Pronoun

er

1. who, which, that
   • verse 76 of the Hávamál (1996 translation by Carolyne Larrington)

     en orðstírr / deyr aldregi / hveim er sér góðan getr

     but the glory of reputation never dies, / for the man who can get himself a good one

Conjunction

er

1. where
2. when

   En er hann dó, grét ǫll verǫldin

   and when he died, the whole world cried.

Descendants

• Icelandic: er
• Faroese: er
• Old Swedish: ær

Usage notes

• The oldest Icelandic manuscripts from the 12th century still have the older form es, and many poems metrically require the contracted form -s (which is also sporadically present in later manuscripts like the late 13th century Codex Regius). In spite of this, most editors chose never to restore er to es, Finnur Jónsson and the editors of the Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages series being important exceptions.

Etymology 2

From earlier es, from Proto-Norse ᛁᛊᛏ (ist), from Proto-Germanic *isti, first/third-person singular indicative present of *wesaną. The final -s was replaced by -r due to analogy to the plural forms of the verb.

Verb

er

2. third-person singular indicative present of vera

Usage notes

• See above; the same rules apply.

Descendants

• Icelandic: er
• Faroese: er
• Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: er
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: er
• Jamtish: er
• Elfdalian: ir
• Old Swedish: ær
  • Swedish: är
• Danish: er
• Old Gutnish: ier

References

• "er", in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Saxon

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛːr/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, whence also Old English ær.

Adjective

ēr

1. early

Declension

Positive forms of ēr

Strong declension
gender	masculine		feminine		neuter
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	ēr	ēre, ēra	ēr	ēra	ēr	ēr, ēra
accusative	ēran, ēren	ēra, ēre	ēra	ēra	ēr	ēr, ēra
genitive	ēres, ēras	ēraro, ēroro, ērero	ērara, ēraro	ēraro, ēroro, ērero	ēres, ēras	ēraro, ēroro, ērero
dative	ērumu, ērum, ērun, ērun, ēron, ēren, ēran	ērun, ēron, ērum	ēraro, ēraru, ērara	ērun, ēron	ērumu, ērum, ērun, ērun, ēron, ēren, ēran	ērun, ēron, ērum
Weak declension
gender	masculine		feminine		neuter
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	ēro, ēra	ēron, ērun	ēra, ēre	ēron, ērun, ēran	ēra, ēre	ēron, ērun
accusative	ēron, ēran	ēron, ērun	ērun, ēron, ēran	ēron, ērun, ēran	ēra, ēre	ēron, ērun
genitive	ēren, ēran	ērono, ēreno	ērun, ēran, ēren	ērono	ēren, ēran	ērono, ēreno
dative	ēron, ēren, ēran	ēron, ērun	ērun, ēran	ēron, ērun	ēron, ēren, ēran	ēron, ērun

Adverb

ēr

1. before, ere
2. formerly

Conjunction

ēr

1. before

Preposition

ēr (+ dative)

1. before

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *aiz, whence also Old English ār.

Noun

ēr ?

1. copper, bronze
2. ore

Descendants

• Middle Low German: ēr

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *airuz. Cognate with Old English ār, Old Norse árr, Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌿𐍃 (airus).

Noun

ēr m

1. messenger, herald

Old Tupi

Etymology

Back-formation from era (“name”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛɾ/
• Rhymes: -ɛɾ
• Hyphenation: er

Adjective

er (IIa class pluriform, R1 rer, R2 ser)

1. named; having a name

Derived terms

• seryba'e

Palauan

Preposition

er

1. Used to indicate a specific object noun phrase.

   el mo er a medad ― in the future.

   er a elecha el tutau ― this morning.

   rakket er a tenis ― tennis racket.

References

• er in Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary, at tekinged.com.
• er in Palauan-English Dictionary, at trussel2.com.
• er in Lewis S. Josephs, Edwin G. McManus, Masa-aki Emesiochel (1977) Palauan-English Dictionary, University Press of Hawaii, →ISBN, page 88.

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɐ̯/

Pronoun

er

1. he

Declension

Pennsylvania German personal pronouns

	singular						plural
	1st person	2nd person familiar	2nd person polite/formal	3rd person			1st person	2nd person	3rd person
				m	f	n
nominative	ich	du de1	dihr der1 Sie	er	sie se1	es	mir mer1	dihr der1	sie
dative	mir mer1	dir der1	eich Ihne Ne1	ihm em1	ihre re1	ihm em1	uns	eich	ihne ne1
accusative	mich	dich	eich Sie	ihn en1	sie se1	es			sie

¹unstressed   

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛr
• Syllabification: er

Noun

er f

1. genitive plural of era

Salar

Etymology 1

From Old Turkic erür.

Noun

er

1. is, are

Etymology 2

Noun

er

1. man

Etymology 3

Adjective

er

1. (Mengda, Ejia) early

Adverb

er

1. morning
2. (Jiezi, Gaizi) long time ago

Derived terms

• ergi
• ehte

References

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “eř, er”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, page 326
• 马伟 (Ma Wei), 朝克 (Chao Ke) (2014) “er”, in 撒拉语366条会话读本 [Salar 366 Conversation Reader]‎^[4], 1st edition, 社会科学文献出版社 (Social Science Literature Press), →ISBN, page 105

• 马伟 (Ma Wei), 朝克 (Chao Ke) (2016) “er, erğine”, in 濒危语言——撒拉语研究 [Endangered Languages ​​- Salar Language Studies], 青海 (Qinghai): 国家社会科学基金项目 (National Social Science Foundation Project), pages 108, 262
• 林 (Lin), 莲云 (Lianyun) (1985) “er”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar]‎^[5], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 33
• Ma, Chengjun, Han, Lianye, Ma, Weisheng (December 2010) “er”, in 米娜瓦尔 艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, 撒维汉词典 (Sāwéihàncídiǎn) [Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary], 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 103

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian -er, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ. Cognates include West Frisian er and German er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ər/

Pronoun

er

1. unstressed form of hie (“he”)

See also

Saterland Frisian personal pronouns

	singular					plural
	1st	2nd	3rd m	3rd f	3rd n	1st	2nd	3rd
stressed	iek	du	hie	ju	dät	wie	jie	jo
unstressed			er	ze	et			ze
objective	mie	die	him	hier	dät	uus	jou	hier

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “er”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Scots

Etymology 1

Verb

er

1. (South Scots) Second-person simple present form of ti be
2. (South Scots) Plural simple present form of ti be
3. (South Scots) First-person singular simple present form of an obscure form of ti be

   A'm er so!

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes

Used emphatically. See ir.

Etymology 2

Noun

er (plural ers)

1. Shetland form of air (“beach”)

References

• “er, n.⁴” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Swedish

Etymology

Contraction of earlier eder, from Old Swedish iþer, idher, from Old Norse iðʀ, from Proto-Germanic *izwiz, dative/accusative of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːr/

Pronoun

er c (neuter possessive only ert, plural era)

1. you (plural, object)

   Synonym: (formal, archaic) eder

2. (possessive) your, yours; (speaking to more than one person, about one object)

   Synonyms: (informal) eran, (formal, archaic) eder

3. (reflexive) reflexive of ni; compare yourselves

   Skulle ni vilja lära er jonglera?

   Would you guys like to learn how to juggle?

Usage notes

• See ni for a note on its use as a courteous 2nd person singular.
• Even though er (2) and its archaic form eder is the possessive pronoun, it does have a genitive form ers and eders, which is only used in expressions like Ers Majestät (“Your Majesty”) and Ers Höghet (“Your Highness”).

Declension

Swedish personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					common	neuter	plural
singular	first	—	jag	mig, mej3	min	mitt	mina
	second	—	du	dig, dej3	din	ditt	dina
	third	masculine (person)	han	honom, han2, en5	hans
		feminine (person)	hon	henne, na5	hennes
		gender-neutral (person)1	hen	hen, henom7	hens
		common (noun)	den	den	dess
		neuter (noun)	det	det	dess
		indefinite	man or en4	en	ens
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina
plural	first	—	vi	oss	vår, våran2	vårt, vårat2	våra
	second	—	ni	er	er, eran2, ers6	ert, erat2	era
		archaic	I	eder	eder, eders6	edert	edra
	third	—	de, dom3	dem, dom3	deras
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina

¹Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, and has gained widespread acceptance today.

²Informal

³Colloquial pronunciation spelling.

⁴Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative to man, to avoid association to the male gender.

⁵Informal, somewhat dialectal

⁶Formal address

⁷Discouraged by the Swedish Language Council

Anagrams

• -re, re-

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æɾ/

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish ایر, ار, from Proto-Turkic *ẹ̄r (“early”). Related to Old Turkic 𐰼 (er).

Adjective

er

1. (regionalism) early

   Synonym: erken

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish ار, from Proto-Turkic *ēr (“man”). Related to noun-forming suffix -er and Old Turkic 𐰼 (er).

Noun

er (definite accusative eri, plural erler)

1. brave
2. man, male
3. noble
4. conscript, private (soldier of the lowest rank of the army)
5. tribesman
6. warrior

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	er
Definite accusative	eri
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	er	erler
Definite accusative	eri	erleri
Dative	ere	erlere
Locative	erde	erlerde
Ablative	erden	erlerden
Genitive	erin	erlerin
Possessive forms Nominative Singular Plural 1st singular erim erlerim 2nd singular erin erlerin 3rd singular eri erleri 1st plural erimiz erlerimiz 2nd plural eriniz erleriniz 3rd plural erleri erleri Definite accusative Singular Plural 1st singular erimi erlerimi 2nd singular erini erlerini 3rd singular erini erlerini 1st plural erimizi erlerimizi 2nd plural erinizi erlerinizi 3rd plural erlerini erlerini Dative Singular Plural 1st singular erime erlerime 2nd singular erine erlerine 3rd singular erine erlerine 1st plural erimize erlerimize 2nd plural erinize erlerinize 3rd plural erlerine erlerine Locative Singular Plural 1st singular erimde erlerimde 2nd singular erinde erlerinde 3rd singular erinde erlerinde 1st plural erimizde erlerimizde 2nd plural erinizde erlerinizde 3rd plural erlerinde erlerinde Ablative Singular Plural 1st singular erimden erlerimden 2nd singular erinden erlerinden 3rd singular erinden erlerinden 1st plural erimizden erlerimizden 2nd plural erinizden erlerinizden 3rd plural erlerinden erlerinden Genitive Singular Plural 1st singular erimin erlerimin 2nd singular erinin erlerinin 3rd singular erinin erlerinin 1st plural erimizin erlerimizin 2nd plural erinizin erlerinizin 3rd plural erlerinin erlerinin
Predicative forms Singular Plural 1st singular erim erlerim 2nd singular ersin erlersin 3rd singular er erdir erler erlerdir 1st plural eriz erleriz 2nd plural ersiniz erlersiniz 3rd plural erler erlerdir

Etymology 3

Verb

er

1. second-person singular imperative of ermek

Uzbek

Other scripts
Cyrillic	эр (er)‍
Latin	‍
Perso-Arabic

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *ēr.

Noun

er (plural erlar)

1. man

   Synonym: erkak

2. husband

   Synonym: zavj

   Antonym: xotin

Derived terms

• er-xotin

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛr/

Etymology 1

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“in front”). Compare Cornish er (“for, by”), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “about, peri-”), Latin per (“through”).

Conjunction

er

1. although
   • 2018 September 28, “Cymraeg y Wladfa a Chymraeg Cymru - beth yw'r gwahaniaethau?”, in BBC Cymru Fyw:

     Nid y Sbaeneg (er y byddai hynny'n syniad da hefyd) ond Cymraeg arbennig y Wladfa.

     Not Spanish (although that would also be a good idea) but the particular Welsh of Y Wladfa.

   • 2019 June 13, Llinos Lee, “Y Barri: Mwy na dim ond 'Gavin & Stacey'”, in BBC Cymru Fyw:

     Ges i fy magu yn Y Barri, ac er mod i wedi symud i ffwrdd i'r brifysgol, …

     I was brought up in Barry, and although I moved away for university, …

Preposition

er (triggers soft mutation)

1. (literary) since

   Synonym: ers

2. (archaic) in spite of, despite

   Synonym: er gwaethaf

3. (archaic) in order to

   Synonyms: er mwyn, i

4. (archaic) for the sake of

   Synonym: er mwyn

5. (obsolete) because of

   Synonyms: achos, o achos, oherwydd, oblegid

6. (obsolete) for, in exchange for

   Synonym: am

7. (obsolete) resulting in
8. (obsolete) through

   Synonyms: trwy, drwy

Usage notes

• In very formal or literary language, er is used when a specific start time is mentioned.

Saif y castell yma er 1284.

The castle has stood here since 1284.

Y mae’r castell yn adfail er pan fu farw’r brenin olaf.

The castle has been a ruin since the last king died.

Ers is used when the beginning of the time period is not mentioned.

Mae’r castell yma ers canrifoedd.

The castle has been here for centuries.

In less formal registers, ers is used in all instances.

Derived terms

• er mwyn (“for the sake of; in order to”)
• er gwaethaf (“despite”)
• ers (“since”)

Inflection

Personal forms (literary)

	Singular	Plural
First person	erof	erom
Second person	erot	eroch
Third person	erddo m erddi f	erddynt

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

er f (plural eriau)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter R.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) llythyren; a, bi, ec, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, eng, aetsh, i / i dot, je, ce, el, èll, em, en, o, pi, ffi, ciw, er, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u / u bedol / u gwpan, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
er	unchanged	unchanged	her
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

West Frisian

Pronoun

er

1. clitic form of hy used before the object or after the verb.