pronoun

ihr (2. Person Plural)

you all · you

Dieses Wort benutzt man, wenn man mit mehreren Personen spricht oder etwas mehreren Personen gehört.

The word ihr is a versatile pronoun in German with three distinct primary functions depending on the context:

Second-person plural pronoun (nominative case): It means "you all" or "you guys." It is used to address a group of people directly (e.g., "Was macht ihr gerade?" meaning "What are you all doing right now?").
Third-person singular possessive pronoun (feminine): It means "her" or "its" (when referring to a feminine noun). It indicates that something belongs to a female person or a feminine object (e.g., "Das ist ihr Haus" meaning "That is her house").
Third-person singular personal pronoun (dative case): It functions as "to her." It is used when a female person is the indirect object of a sentence (e.g., "Ich gebe ihr einen Apfel" meaning "I am giving her an apple").

Grammatical Category: Personal pronoun / Possessive pronoun.
Etymology: The word originates from Old High German "ir" (for the second-person plural) and "ira" (for the possessive/dative feminine). It has remained a fundamental part of the German language since its early stages.
Inflection:
- As a personal pronoun (nominative, plural): ihr
- As a possessive pronoun (feminine, nominative/accusative): ihr
- As a personal pronoun (dative, feminine singular): ihr

Synonyms:

For the second-person plural, colloquial variations include euch (though this is technically the accusative/dative form, it is often used in dialects) or the regional ihrleute .
For the possessive sense, there are no direct synonyms, but it is related to other possessive pronouns like sein (his/its).

Antonyms:

As a personal pronoun for the second person plural, the antonym is ich (I).
As a possessive pronoun meaning "her," the logical antonym in terms of gender ownership is sein (his).