Meaning 1neutral · 89%
official documents proving identity or entitlement.
Natural examples
Bitte zeigen Sie mir Ihre Papiere.
Please show me your identity papers.
Sie hat ihre Papiere zu Hause vergessen.
She forgot her documents at home.
Bewahren Sie Ihre Reisepapiere sicher auf.
Keep your travel papers in a safe place.
Usage note
Papiere in this sense means documents and is plural; das Papier means paper material.
Useful combinations
die Papiere zeigen — common combination with the meaning “identity documents”gültige Papiere — common combination with the meaning “identity documents”
Common mistake
Meine Papiere ist hier.
Meine Papiere sind hier.
Use “sind” in place of “ist”; this corrects the form or sentence pattern used with Papiere.
Mini-lesson: Papiere: official documents proving identity or entitlement
Notice the combination “die Papiere zeigen”. In a sentence: “Please show me your identity papers.” The central meaning is official documents proving identity or entitlement.
Check your learning
Choose one answer.In the context “Bitte zeigen Sie mir Ihre Papiere.”, what does “Papiere” mean?