mein lieber Freund
/maɪ̯n ˈliːbɐ frɔʏ̯nt/word by word
In German, "my dear friend" is expressed as mein lieber Freund.
mein lieber Freund is a warm and affectionate way to address or refer to a close male friend.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase changes based on the gender and number of the friends you are referring to. Use meine liebe Freundin when referring to a female friend, and meine lieben Freunde when referring to multiple friends. If you need to use the genitive case to indicate possession or a relationship, the phrase becomes meines lieben Freundes.
How do you pronounce it?
/maɪ̯n ˈliːbɐ frɔʏ̯nt/
Did you know?
- In modern German, calling someone mein Freund can be ambiguous because it is also the standard way to say 'my boyfriend'.
- In some regional dialects, a very close Freund is called a Kumpel, a word that originally referred specifically to a mining buddy.
- The word Freund shares its ancient roots with the word 'love', specifically tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to love'.
Examples in context
- Ich habe Ihnen jetzt die gesamte Wahrheit gesagt, und wenn ich diese der Polizei vorenthielt, so lag das darin begründet, dass ich die Gefahr, in der sich mein lieber Freund befand, nicht erkannte.I have told you now the whole truth, and if I withheld it from the police it is because I did not realise then the danger in which my dear friend stood.This sentence shows the phrase used to describe a friend's situation.Tatoeba #11456287 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #7025717 by Hybrid
- Hallo, mein lieber Freund, wie geht es dir?Hi, how are you, my dear friend?This sentence shows how to use the phrase in a greeting.Tatoeba #783569 by Chris, translation #773144 by marloncori
- Mein lieber Freund!My dear friend!This sentence shows the phrase used as an exclamation.Tatoeba #1473826 by Rovo, translation #3631514 by thegui
Example conversation
Sarah greets Felix at a cafe.
- SarahHallo, mein lieber Freund! Schön dich zu sehen.Hello, my dear friend! It is good to see you.
- FelixHallo Sarah, ich freue mich auch sehr.Hello Sarah, I am very happy too.
- SarahWie war deine Reise nach Berlin?How was your trip to Berlin?
- FelixSie war toll, danke der Nachfrage.It was great, thanks for asking.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (mein, lieber, Freund) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Freund, lieber, mein, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
