der Bär
/deːr bɛːr/word by word
The English phrase "the animal bear" is translated into German as der Bär.
der Bär refers to a large, heavy mammal with thick fur and a short tail.
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun Bär is part of the n-declension, meaning it takes an -en ending in the accusative, dative and genitive cases. For example, you would use den Bären for the accusative case and des Bären for the genitive case.
How do you pronounce it?
/deːr bɛːr/
Did you know?
- The word Bär may have originated as a 'taboo-avoidance' term. Ancient Germanic speakers likely avoided saying the true name of the animal because they feared attracting its attention, instead using a word derived from 'brown'.
- There is a traditional German expression einen Bären aufbinden, which means to trick someone or tell them a lie, literally 'to tie a bear onto someone'.
Examples in context
- Der Bär ist im Wald.The bear is in the forest.
Example conversation
Felix and Sarah are looking at a nature documentary.
- FelixSchau mal, dort ist der Bär!Look, there is the bear!
- SarahEr sieht sehr stark aus.He looks very strong.
- FelixJa, der Bär ist beeindruckend.Yes, the bear is impressive.
- SarahIch mag dieses Tier wirklich.I really like this animal.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (der, Bär) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Bär, der, CC BY-SA 4.0.
