er

[eːɐ̯]

/[eːɐ̯]/ pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“er” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #25) as a pronoun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#25
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Personalpronomen 3. Person Neutrum Singular, welches eine zuvor benutzte Nominalphrase im Maskulinum (Person, Tier, Sache oder Abstraktum) ersetzt oder bei fehlendem oder weit entferntem Bezugswort...

Corpus desk

Index DE-er · er · German

er · rank #25 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #25
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH als

Nearest frequency peer: als (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “er”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “er” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

er vs es
50% similar
er vs EU
0% similar
er vs Ex
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for er
PropertyValue
Headworder
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPronoun
IPA[eːɐ̯]
Letters2
Frequency rank#25
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “er” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). er lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for er is neighbouring look-alikes ("es", "EU", …), not just typos; it is apronoun pronounced [eːɐ̯]. Frequency #25 among 4,632 “E” headwords. Gloss: "Personalpronomen 3. Person Neutrum Singular, welches eine zuvor benutzte Nominalphrase im Maskulinum (Person, Tier, Sache oder Abstraktum) ersetzt oder bei fehlendem oder weit entferntem Bezugswort...".

er has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "es", "EU", "Ex", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is er, spelled E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Personalpronomen 3. Person Neutrum Singular, welches eine zuvor benutzte Nominalphrase im Maskulinum (Person, Tier, Sache oder Abstraktum) ersetzt oder bei fehlendem oder weit entferntem Bezugswort auf eine Person männlichen natürlichen Geschlechts verweist

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how er appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. ‚Schau mal, da hinten. Ist er nicht süß?‘, sagte sie. ‚Ja‘, antwortete ihre Freundin, ‚eine angenehme Erscheinung.‘
  2. Der weibliche Häftling entkam den Gefängniswärtern, weil er eine gute Gelegenheit nutzen konnte. Aber die Polizei fing die Frau schnell wieder ein.

Synonyms

der

Antonyms

essie

This word in other languages

he(English)él(Español)il(Français)ele(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "er"?
"er" is spelled E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [eːɐ̯].
What does "er" mean?
As a pronoun, "er" means: Personalpronomen 3. Person Neutrum Singular, welches eine zuvor benutzte Nominalphrase im Maskulinum (Person, Tier, Sache oder Abstraktum) ersetzt oder bei fehlendem oder weit entferntem Bezugswort...
What words are commonly confused with "er"?
"er" is commonly confused with "es", "EU", "Ex". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "er"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "er" is [eːɐ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "er" come from?
"er" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

What to do next

You've looked up "er". Here's where to go from here.

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list