einer der
/aɪ̯nar deːr/word by word
In German, "one of the" is expressed as einer der.
This phrase is used to identify a single person or thing as part of a larger group.
What does it mean word for word?
The word einer is a pronoun meaning "one", and der is the genitive plural article meaning "of the".
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase einer der requires the following noun to be in the genitive case. The specific form you choose depends on the gender of the person or thing being identified: use einer der for masculine nouns, eine der for feminine nouns and eines der for neuter nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/aɪ̯nar deːr/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Because it mirrors English structure, speakers often use einer von den instead of the correct genitive form. Use einer der for formal writing to avoid this error.
Did you know?
- In spoken German, using einer von den is so common that using the grammatically correct einer der in a casual conversation can sometimes make a speaker sound overly stiff or arrogant.
- The word der in this phrase is a cognate with the Yiddish word דער, which serves a similar function in that language.
- The use of der in this context is the result of a linguistic process called analogy, where speakers subconsciously mirrored the patterns of adjective endings.
Examples in context
- Einer der Hunde lebt.One of the dogs is alive.This sentence uses einer der to identify one dog among a group.Tatoeba #2086371 by Tamy, translation #42013 by CK
- Das war einer der Gründe.That was one of the causes.This sentence uses einer der to identify one reason among several.Tatoeba #13786086 by mhr, translation #13808937 by rul
- Ich bin einer der Anführer.I'm one of the leaders.This sentence uses einer der to identify one leader among a group.Tatoeba #8887981 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #8887979 by CK
- Einer der LehrerOne of the teachers
- Einer der StudentenOne of the students
- Einer der KollegenOne of the colleagues
- Eine der SchulenOne of the schools
- Eine der UniversitätenOne of the universities
- Eine der FirmenOne of the companies
- 253 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sarah and Julian are talking about a popular photographer.
- SarahIst er einer der besten Fotografen?Is he one of the best photographers?
- JulianJa, er ist einer der berühmtesten in der Stadt.Yes, he is one of the most famous in the city.
- SarahDas ist wirklich beeindruckend.That is really impressive.
- JulianEr arbeitet sehr professionell.He works very professionally.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (einer, der) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries der, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
