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- gern and gerne
gern and gerne
376
What rule decides whether "gern" is written with or without an "-e"?
13 Comments
376
Thank you christian. I am quite amazed. It must be the only word in the German language that is not subject to a rule. I will relish the freedom to decide each time I use it. Ned.
You're right, christian. But some older speakers might disagree. When I was still in primary school my German teacher used to mark me "gern" as an error. For her "gerne" was the only correct one. (And that's only about 15 years ago. Wow. When I write it like that I feel really old.)
According to Zwiebelfisch (http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/zwiebelfisch-abc-gerne-gern-a-323744.html) "gerne" is the older version, but nowadays both are used without any difference in meaning or style.
1135
In my day, "gern" or "gerne" meant gladly. "Ich trinke gern" would be literally "I gladly drink" but that was marked wrong.
No, this is something completely different. 'lang Haare' is ungrammatical. 'lang' is an adjective. 'gern/gerne' is an adverb. Adjectives are declined according to case, gender, number and preceding article. Adverbs don't change. Usually, there is only one form of an adverb. 'Gern/gerne' is an exception in this regard.