über
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle High German über, from Old High German ubiri, ubari, from Proto-Germanic *ubiri, from Proto-Indo-European *upéri, from *upér (ultimately from *upo + *-i). Cognate with Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”), Latin super (“above”). Akin to Dutch over, English over, Danish over, Norwegian over, Swedish över, Icelandic yfir, Faroese yvir.
Pronunciation
Preposition
über [with dative (indicating location) or accusative (indicating movement)]
- [with accusative or dative] above, over (spatially)
- Über dem Wald ist der Himmel blau. ― Over the forest, the sky is blue.
- Die Vögel flogen über den Wald. ― The birds flew over the forest.
- [with accusative] about, concerning, over, at (in reference to)
- Die ganze Klasse lachte über ihren Witz. ― The entire class laughed at her joke.
- [with accusative] via, through, by way of
- Der Zug fährt über den Hauptbahnhof. ― The train goes via the main station.
- Ich kaufe alles über das Internet. ― I buy everything through the internet.
- [with accusative] across
- Ich fahre mit der Fähre über die Ostsee. ― I travel on the ferry across the Baltic Sea.
- 2010, Der Spiegel, number 24/2010, page 128:
- Das Schiff legt an, und die Besucher steigen in einen weißen Bus, der sie über die Insel fährt.
- The ship docks and the visitors step into a white bus, which drives them across the island.
- 2012 June 29, Die Welt, archived from the original on 12 April 2013, page 22:
- Die Popularität von Jeans reicht über alle Altersklassen und soziale Schichten hinweg.
- The popularity of jeans extends across all age classes and social classes.
- [with accusative] during, for, over a time period
- Es regnete über das Wochenende. ― It rained over the weekend.
- Er hat uns über Jahre belogen. ― He's lied to us for years.
- [with accusative] about
- Ich schreibe ein Buch über Goethes Leben. ― I'm writing a book about Goethe's life.
- around, among
- over, more than, above (a quantity)
- beyond
- Die technischen Probleme in der Welt von heute gehen weit über den Rahmen des Technischen hinaus.
- The technological problems in today's world extend far beyond the scope of technology.
- at (when 'over' or 'about' could roughly be substituted)
Usage notes
- The preposition über is used with accusative case if the verb indicates movement from one place to another, whereas it is used with dative case if the verb indicates location.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- → Serbo-Croatian: iber
See also
Adjective
über (predicative only)
- (colloquial) left over, remaining, replaces übrig in all its predicative instances, including those lexicalized as verb prefixoids.
- überbleiben ― to be left over, to remain
- Hier sind noch zwei Gurken über. Willst du die haben? ― Here there are two gherkins left. Wanna have em?
Adverb
über
- over (in certain select phrases)
- über und über ― over and over
Related terms
Postposition
über [with accusative]
- throughout; all through
- den ganzen Tag über ― throughout the entire day
- Der Sturm hatte die Nacht über gewütet. ― The storm had raged all through the night.
Further reading
- “über” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “über” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “über” in Duden online
- “über” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
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