gern

English

Etymology

See grin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɜː(ɹ)n/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
• Homophone: gurn

Verb

gern (third-person singular simple present gerns, present participle gerning, simple past and past participle gerned)

1. (obsolete) To grin.
2. (obsolete) To yawn.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 13:

     [He] gaped like a gulfe, when he did gerne, / That whether man or monster one could scarse discerne

References

• “gern”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Eng'r, Engr, Gren., engr., gren

German

Alternative forms

• gerne (both forms are roughly equally frequent)

Etymology

From Middle High German gërne, from Old High German gërno, from Proto-West Germanic *gernō, from Proto-Germanic *gernô (“willingly, gladly”), an adverbial form of *gernaz (“eager, willing”). Akin to German Low German geren (Paderbornisch), Dutch gaarne, English yern, Swedish gärna, Danish gerne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛrn/, [ɡɛʁn], [ɡɛɐ̯n]
• Rhymes: -ɛʁn

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

Adverb

gern (comparative lieber, superlative am liebsten)

1. willingly; gladly; with pleasure; usually expressed verbally in English, with like, enjoy etc.

   Markus fährt gern Fahrrad.

   Markus enjoys biking.

2. (only with mögen) much; a lot

   Dieses Lied mag ich gern.

   I like this song a lot.

3. (chiefly informal) easily; often

   Mir wird gern mal schlecht im Auto.

   I easily feel sick in the car.

4. Used to indicate a preference.

   Ich schlafe gern in meinem eigenen Bett.

   I prefer sleeping in my own bed.

Usage notes

• It's common to use gern(e), often with mögen in the subjunctive, to make requests more polite, regardless of frequency or enjoyment:

  Ich möchte dieses Kleid gerne anprobieren. ― I'd like to try on this dress please.

Derived terms

• gernhaben, gern haben
• gut und gern

Further reading

• “gern” in Duden online
• “gern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache