erste
German, adjective
erste is spelled E-R-S-T-E (5 letters) and appears 372 times per million words in written German, the 249th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Erste is a German adjective meaning “first” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Erste is a different word: “female equivalent of Erster: female winner”.
What does erste mean in English?
adjective
- 1
first
noun
- 1
femininefemale equivalent of Erster: female winner
noun
- 1
masculinestrong nominative/accusative plural
- 2
masculineweak nominative singular
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
number: 1. (zeitlich oder örtlich oder in einer anderen Reihenfolge) an vorderster Stelle sich befindend, dem zweiten vorangehend
noun: 1. weibliche Person, die eine Rang- oder Reihenfolge anführt
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of erste
- erster masculine nominative singular
- erstes neuter nominative singular
- ersten genitive masculine singular
- erstem dative masculine singular
- der erste definite includes-article masculine
- die erste definite feminine includes-article
- das erste definite includes-article neuter
- die ersten definite includes-article nominative
- des ersten definite genitive includes-article
- der ersten definite feminine genitive
- dem ersten dative definite includes-article
- den ersten dative definite includes-article
- ein erster includes-article indefinite masculine
- 1. abbreviation
- Erster masculine
- Ersten dative plural
- die Erste nominative singular
- die Ersten nominative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to erste
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is erste in German?
erste appears 372 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).