Herz

See also: herz

German

Alternative forms

Herze, Hertz (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German herze, from Old High German herza, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr (“heart”). Cognate with Dutch hart, English heart, Danish hjerte, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairtō).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hɛʁts/, [hɛʁts], [hɛɐ̯ts]
audio (Germany) (file)
audio (Austria) (file)
Homophone: Hertz

Noun

Herz n (genitive Herzens, plural Herzen, diminutive Herzchen n or Herzlein n)

Usage notes

Herz has irregular singular declension and is the only noun of its kind.

The genitive singular takes the ending -ens: des Herzens. The form des Herzes is very rare and generally considered nonstandard.
The dative singular traditionally takes -en: dem Herzen. This form is still the only accepted standard form in many—more or less fixed—expressions, such as im Herzen, von Herzen, zu Herzen, Operation am offenen Herzen (“open-heart surgery”), mit halbem Herzen (“half-heartedly”), and others.

Only the bare form dem Herz is common when referring to a card suit, as a term of endearment, and in the phrase mit Herz (“good-hearted”)

Otherwise, the forms dem Herzen and dem Herz are both acceptable. The latter is predominant in speech, while the former remains the more established form in writing.