Er
he
Definition & meaning
er means “he” in English. It is the third-person singular personal pronoun used for a male person or a masculine noun.
- Er ist mein Bruder. — He is my brother.
- Der Hund ist müde. Er schläft. — The dog is tired. It is sleeping.
Although it is normally written er with a lowercase letter, it becomes Er when it appears at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.
Er can also refer to the name of the German letter R, although the spelling of the letter itself is R.
Grammar & Word origin
- Part of speech: personal pronoun
- Person: third person
- Number: singular
- Gender: masculine
- Case: nominative
- English equivalent: “he”
The related forms are:
The pronoun developed from older Germanic forms meaning “that one” or “he.”
Synonyms & antonyms
There is no exact synonym for er, because it is a grammatical pronoun. Depending on context, it can sometimes be replaced by:
- dieser — this one; more demonstrative and emphatic
- jener — that one; often refers to someone or something more distant
These alternatives do not simply mean “he”; they also indicate distance or emphasis.
There is no direct antonym. Other third-person pronouns contrast with er in gender or number:
Common phrases & collocations
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Examples
Er spielt im Garten.pronoun
He plays in the garden.
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