wir

German

Alternative forms

• Wir (pluralis majestatis)
• -wa, wa (rare, colloquial)

Etymology

From Middle High German wir, from Old High German wir, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy-, plural of *éǵh₂. Compare Low German wi, Dutch wij, English we, Danish vi, Icelandic vér, Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis).

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /viːɐ̯/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːɐ̯

• (colloquially in unstressed position) IPA^(key): /vɐ/, /mɐ/

Pronoun

wir

1. we

Inflection

German personal pronouns

		nominative	accusative	genitive	dative	possessive
1st person singular		ich	mich	meiner († mein)	mir	mein
2nd person singular (familiar)1		du (-e)	dich	deiner († dein)	dir	dein
3rd person singular	m	er	ihn	seiner († sein)	ihm	sein
	f	sie		ihrer	ihr
	n	es		seiner († sein)	ihm	sein
1st person plural		wir (mir)	uns	unser	uns	unser
2nd person plural (familiar)1		ihr	euch	euer	euch	euer
3rd person plural		sie		ihrer	ihnen	ihr
polite address	naturally: 2nd person sg. or pl.; grammatically: 2nd person pl.	Ihr	Euch	Euer	Euch	Euer
	naturally: 2nd person sg. or pl.; grammatically: 3rd person pl.	Sie		Ihrer	Ihnen	Ihr

¹Often capitalized, especially in letters

• The genitive case unser is used more and more rarely in modern German.
• While the genitive of a personal pronoun does express ownership, it must not be confused with a possessive pronoun. While possessive pronouns such as unser are put in front of the noun they relate to and follow the inflection rules of adjectives, the genitive form of a personal pronoun has only one form, which is not further inflected. Additionally, personal pronouns in the genitive can be put after the word they relate to.

Further reading

• wir in Duden online

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Middle High German

Etymology

From Old High German wir, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz.

Pronoun

wir

1. we: nominative plural of ich

Descendants

• Cimbrian: bar
• German: wir

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Old English

Alternative forms

• ƿīr

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wīraz. Cognate with Middle Low German wīre, and related to late Old Norse víravirki (“filigree work”), Old High German wiara.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiːr/

Noun

wīr m (nominative plural wīras)

1. wire

Descendants

• Middle English: wir, wyr
  • Scots: wire, weyr
  • English: wire

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Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *virъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vʲir/

Noun

wir m inan

1. vortex
2. whirlpool
3. whirl
4. swirl
5. eddy
6. gyre
7. whirlwind

   wir pyłowy ― dust devil

Declension

declension of wir

	singular	plural
nominative	wir	wiry
genitive	wiru	wirów
dative	wirowi	wirom
accusative	wir	wiry
instrumental	wirem	wirami
locative	wirze	wirach
vocative	wirze	wiry

Synonyms

• (vortex): kłębowisko, odmęt
• (whirlpool): topiel, odmęt
• (whirl): kłębowisko, kotłowisko
• (swirl): trąba powietrzna

Derived terms

• (verb) wirować

Further reading

• wir in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN

• wir in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Scots

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

wir

1. simple past tense of be

Usage notes

Use wir with plural pronouns otherwise use wis.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Alternative forms

• (Orkney) wur

Determiner

wir

1. our

   Synonym: oor

2. my

   Synonym: ma

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Welsh

Noun

wir

1. Soft mutation of gwir.