gär

Liking with Gär

Level 1

Ech iesse gär Fësch. (I like eating fish.) Ech hunn dech gär. (I love you.)

How It Works

Verb + gär: liking an activity
Conjugate the verb as usual and add gär after it:

  • Si danzt gär. (She likes dancing.)
  • Ech iesse gär Fësch. (I like eating fish.)
  • Lies du gär? (Do you like reading?)

Many verbs lose their n before gär by the n-rule: iessen → iesse gär, drénken → drénke gär.

Gär hunn: liking a thing or a person

  • Ech hu Kaffi gär. (I like coffee.)
  • Ech hunn dech gär. (I love you, I am fond of you.)
  • Hatt huet d'Glace net gär. (She doesn’t like the ice cream.)

Not liking something
Put net right before gär: Ech iessen net gär Fësch, Ech hunn dat net gär.

Liking something more
The comparative of gär is léiwer (rather) and the superlative is am léifsten (most of all). See besser/léiwer/manner.

Related expressions
ech hätt gär is the polite way to ask for something, and gär geschitt means you’re welcome. You will also meet the form gären (gäre by the n-rule), especially before a vowel: net gären eleng.

Examples (6)

  1. Ech iesse gär Fësch.

    I like eating fish.

    Word by Word: I eat gladly fish.

    Iessen loses its n before the g of gär.

  2. Si danzt gär.

    She likes dancing.

    Word by Word: She dances gladly.

  3. Ech hunn dech gär.

    I love you.

    Word by Word: I have you gladly.

    Gär hunn with a person means to love or to be fond of them.

  4. Mir spille gär Fussball.

    We like playing football.

    Word by Word: We play gladly football.

  5. Ech hunn Téi gär, mee ech drénke léiwer Kaffi.

    I like tea, but I prefer coffee.

    Word by Word: I have tea gladly, but I drink rather coffee.

    Léiwer is the comparative of gär.

  6. Lies du gär?

    Do you like reading?

    Word by Word: Read you gladly?

    The du form of liesen is lies.

Common Mistakes

  • Using gär as if it were the verb.

    Ech gär Fësch.
    Ech iesse gär Fësch.

    Gär is not a verb. Every statement needs a conjugated verb, so say what you like doing (Ech iesse gär Fësch) or use gär hunn (Ech hu Fësch gär).

  • Using hunn with an infinitive to say you like doing something.

    Ech hu gär danzen.
    Ech danze gär.

    For activities, conjugate the verb itself and add gär. Gär hunn is only for things and people.

  • Keeping the n of the verb before gär.

    Ech iessen gär Fësch.
    Ech iesse gär Fësch.

    By the n-rule, iessen drops its n before the g of gär.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

gärLevel 1Liking with Gär

Learn This First

Before Liking With Gär, learn Present Tense Endings and To Have: Hunn.

Words in This Pattern

hunnech hunn dech gär