über

See also: über-, uber, uber-, and ueber

German
FWOTD – 28 October 2012

Alternative forms
  • uber, vber, uͤber, ueber, vͤber, v̈ber, veber (obsolete)

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
  • IPA(key): /ˈyːbɐ/ (standard)
  • IPA(key): /ˈʏbɐ/ (per se western German, and Berlin to a lesser extent, but also elsewhere when unstressed)
  • audio(file)
  • audio(file)

Preposition

über

  1. (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.
  2. (accusative) about, concerning, over, at (in reference to)
    Die ganze Klasse lachte über ihren Witz. ― The entire class laughed at her joke.
  3. (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.
  4. (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.
  5. (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.
  6. (accusative) about
    Ich schreibe ein Buch über Goethes Leben. ― I'm writing a book about Goethe's life.
  7. around, among
  8. over, more than, above (a quantity)
  9. 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.
  10. 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

Descendants
  • → Serbo-Croatian: iber

See also

Adjective

über (predicative only)

  1. (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

  1. over (in certain select phrases)
    über und über ― over and over

Postposition

über

  1. (following accusative) throughout
    Den ganzen Tag über. ― Throughout the entire day.

Further reading
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