paar

Paar is a term used in Germanic languages to designate two items that form a unit, whether physical objects or people. In German, the noun is written as Paar and is neuter: das Paar. The plural is Paare. It can refer to a pair of objects, such as Schuhe (shoes), or to a couple of people, such as two romantically involved individuals.

In German, use of das Paar covers both senses: a single set of two related items (ein Paar Schuhe) and a couple (das Paar ist glücklich). The word can also appear in compounds and phrases like paarweise, meaning “in pairs,” or getrenntes Paar, “a separated couple.”

In Dutch, a similar concept is expressed with geld the phrase een paar, meaning either a pair or a small number. It is common in everyday speech to say een paar schoenen for “a pair of shoes,” or een paar mensen for “a few people.” For multiple pairs, Dutch typically uses the plural form paren, as in drie paren sokken for “three pairs of socks.”

The term also appears across Dutch and German as a cognate of the English word pair, sharing the core idea of two items joined or paired together. In German and Dutch, the word can occur in technical or formal usage as well, such as in mathematics or linguistics when describing pairwise relationships or paired elements. As a surname, Paar can be found in German-speaking contexts but is relatively uncommon.

See also: pair, couple, duo, pairwise, Paare (German plural).