lieber
/ˈliːbɐ/
The English phrase "dear someone" is translated into German as lieber, which is used as a friendly greeting at the beginning of a letter or email to someone you know well.
lieber is a friendly greeting used when addressing someone you have a personal relationship with.
Which one should you use?
While lieber is used for people you know well, Sehr geehrte(r) is the standard formal way to say "Dear" in professional correspondence. For even higher levels of respect or courtesy, you might use Geschätzter Herr (Esteemed Sir) or Geschätzte Frau (Esteemed Madam).
How does it change in a sentence?
The form of the word changes based on the gender of the person you are addressing: use liebe for a female recipient and liebes when addressing a person or entity with a neuter grammatical gender, such as liebes Kind. In German, the salutation is typically followed by a comma and the first word of the body of the letter starts with a lowercase letter unless it is a noun.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈliːbɐ/
Did you know?
- The word lieber is a cognate of the archaic English word 'liever', which meant 'rather' or 'more willingly'.
- The word lieber is also used as an adverb to express preference, as in ich trinke lieber Tee, meaning 'I prefer to drink tea'.
- While English uses 'Dear' for both lovers and business partners, using lieber in a professional German context can be seen as inappropriately intimate or overly familiar.
Examples in context
- Sehr geehrter Herr Müller,Dear Mr. Müller,
- Sehr geehrte Frau Schmidt,Dear Ms. Schmidt,
- Lieber Thomas,Dear Thomas,
- Lieber Papa, wie geht es dir?Dear Dad, how are you?
- Lieber Max, danke für deine Hilfe.Dear Max, thanks for your help.
Example conversation
Laura and Felix are talking about writing an email to a mutual friend.
- LauraWie fängst du die E-Mail an?How do you start the email?
- FelixIch schreibe: Lieber Lukas.I write: Dear Lukas.
- LauraDas klingt sehr freundlich.That sounds very friendly.
- FelixJa, er ist ein guter Freund.Yes, he is a good friend.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry lieber, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries lieber, CC BY-SA 4.0.
