her
here
Expresses movement toward the speaker or an imagined reference point. Often part of a separable verb like 'herkommen' (to come here) or 'hergeben' (to hand over).
EXAMPLE
Komm doch mal schnell her!
Come here quickly!
her
here / ago
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Meanings
her
ago
Indicates that a period of time has passed since a specific event in the past. It usually comes after the time expression.
EXAMPLE
Mein letzter Urlaub ist schon ein halbes Jahr her.
My last vacation was already half a year ago.
hin und her
back and forth
Describes repeated movement between two points, forward and back.
EXAMPLE
Er lief nervös im Zimmer hin und her.
He paced nervously back and forth in the room.
woher
where from
As part of the question word "woher" (where from), it asks about the origin or starting point of something or someone.
EXAMPLE
Woher weißt du das alles?
How do you know all that?
Usage tips
Movement toward the speaker
The adverb 'her' always expresses movement toward the speaker or an imagined point. It is often the prefix of separable verbs like 'herkommen' (to come here) or 'hersehen' (to look here).
EXAMPLE
Kannst du bitte mal kurz zu mir herkommen?
Could you please come over to me for a moment?
Word order as a prefix
When 'her' is part of a separable verb, it stands at the end in a main clause. In subordinate clauses, it appears together with the verb at the end of the sentence.
EXAMPLE
Er reichte mir das Buch her.
He handed me the book.
Past time
To express that a period of time has passed, a fixed structure is used: '[time expression] + ist/sind + [schon] + her'. The word 'her' always stands at the end.
EXAMPLE
Unser letztes Treffen ist schon lange her.
Our last meeting was a long time ago.
Fixed expression
The expression 'hin und her' (back and forth) functions like a single unit. It describes repeated movement between two points.
EXAMPLE
Er lief nervös auf dem Flur hin und her.
He paced nervously back and forth in the hallway.
Part of 'woher'
As part of the question word 'woher' (where from), 'her' asks about the origin or starting point. 'Woher' literally means 'from which place'.
EXAMPLE
Woher kommst du?
Where are you from?
Compare with
her vs vor
before / in front of
Vor comes before a time expression and places an event in the past. With her, the time expression usually follows a past event and names the amount of time that has passed since then. Both can therefore express the same time interval, but with a different sentence structure.
her
Unser letztes Treffen ist drei Jahre her.
It has been three years since we last met.
vor
Wir haben uns vor drei Jahren zum letzten Mal getroffen.
The last time we met was three years ago.
In real life
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