eher
Appearance
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Chiefly from haplology of Middle High German ērer, from Old High German ēriro, from Proto-Germanic *airizô. Compare Dutch eerder.
Likely conflated with Middle High German ēr, a rarer byform of ē (whence modern eh, ehe), from Old High German ēr, from Proto-Germanic *airiz, adverbial form of the above. Cognate with Dutch eer, English ere, Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌹𐍃 (airis). The final /r/ was regularly lost in Late Old High German (cf. da, hie, wo), but survived regionally (chiefly in Central German).
Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]eher
- comparative degree of bald: earlier, sooner
- Synonym: früher
- Es tut mir leid, aber ich konnte nicht eher kommen.
- I'm sorry, but I couldn’t make it earlier.
- rather
- fairly, relatively, somewhat; expresses a weakened degree
- Synonyms: relativ, einigermaßen
- Es scheint eher unwahrscheinlich, dass sie je ins Ausland geht.
- It seems fairly unlikely that she will ever go abroad.
- 2010, Der Spiegel[1], number 45/2010, page 17:
- Eine Paketbombe, die Anfang vergangener Woche im Kanzleramt eintraf, war von eher geringer Sprengkraft.
- A parcel bomb, which arrived in the Chancellery at the beginning of last week, was of relatively small explosive force.
- 2012 June 18, Die Welt[2], archived from the original on 12 April 2013, page 10:
- Die Verbraucher in Deutschland halten sich beim Konsum von Fisch angesichts hoher Preise eher zurück.
- Consumers in Germany are rather reluctant to consume fish in the face of high prices.
- sooner, more readily, preferably; expresses a preference
- Synonym: lieber
- Wenn ich wählen muss, würde ich eher ins Kino gehen.
- If I have to choose, I’d rather go to the cinema.
- Eher will ich einen Affen heiraten als dich!
- I'd sooner marry an ape than you!
- more precisely speaking, in fact, more like; used to replace a word or phrase with another
- Synonym: vielmehr
- Der Wein scheint mir nicht trocken zu sein, eher halbtrocken.
- This wine doesn’t seem to be dry, rather medium dry.
- Diese Aufführung ist doch kein Theater mehr, eher Affentheater!
- This performance isn’t theatre. Monkey theatre more like! [i.e. a farce, charade]
- fairly, relatively, somewhat; expresses a weakened degree
Related terms
[edit]See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German adverbs
- German comparative adjectives
- German terms with usage examples
- German terms with quotations