wir

German

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Middle High German wir, from Old High German wir, from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ. Compare Low German wi, Dutch wij, English we, Danish vi, Icelandic vér, Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis).

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /viːɐ̯/
• Rhymes: -iːɐ̯

• audio

  (file)

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

Pronoun

wir

1. we

Declension

German personal pronouns

		nominative	accusative	genitive	dative	possessive
1st person singular		ich4	mich	meiner mein3	mir	mein
2nd person singular (familiar)1		du (-e)	dich	deiner dein3	dir	dein
2nd person singular (polite)6	m verbs conjugated according to 3nd person sg. er	er	ihn	seiner sein3	ihm	sein
3rd person singular	m	er	ihn	seiner sein3	ihm	sein
	f	sie se5, -se5		ihrer	ihr
	n	es		seiner sein3	ihm	sein
1st person plural		wir4 (mir)	uns	unser	uns	unser
2nd person sg. or pl. (elevated2)	verbs conjugated according to 2nd person pl. ihr	Ihr	Euch	Euer	Euch	Euer
2nd person plural (familiar)1		ihr	euch	euer	euch	euer
2nd person sg. or pl. (polite)7	verbs conjugated according to 3rd person pl. sie	Sie		Ihrer	Ihnen	Ihr
3rd person plural		sie		ihrer	ihnen	ihr

¹often capitalized, especially in letters    ²archaic (ihrzen)    ³dated    ⁴capitalised in royal usage    ⁵enclitic, colloquial ⁶archaic (erzen), sometimes capitalised ⁷(siezen)

• 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wir/

Pronoun

wir

1. we: nominative plural of ich

Descendants

• Bavarian:
  • Cimbrian: biar, bar
  • Mòcheno: biar
• German: wir

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Old English

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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Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiːr/

Pronoun

wir

1. we: nominative plural of ih

Descendants

• Bavarian:
  • Cimbrian: biar, bar
  • Mòcheno: biar
• German: wir

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Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *virъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vʲir/

• Audio

  (file)

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 corresponding lemma form.

Verb

wir

1. simple past tense of be

Usage notes

Wir is used with plural pronouns, and wis is used otherwise.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
gwir	wir	ngwir	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.