was

See also wąs

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, (identical to Low German was, cognate with German war), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”). The paradigm of "to be" has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of three originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form be is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to become”). The words is and are are both derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Lastly, the past forms starting with w- such as was and were are from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).

Pronunciation

stressed

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (UK) enPR: wŏz, IPA: /wɒz/, SAMPA: /wQz/
• (US) enPR: wŭz, IPA: /wʌz/, SAMPA: /wVz/, IPA: /wɑz/
• Rhymes: -ɒz

unstressed

• enPR: wəz, IPA: /wəz/, SAMPA: /w@z/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (in the phrase "I was there")

Verb

was

1. First-person singular simple past tense indicative of be.
2. Third-person singular simple past tense indicative of be.

Derived terms

• wasband
• wasbian

See also

am are is art be being been

beest wast were wert woz wuz

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: in · I · that · #8: was · he · his · with

Anagrams

• ASW
• saw, SAW

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Afrikaans

Noun

was (uncountable)

1. wax

Verb

was

1. Past tense of wees.

was (past participle gewas)

1. to wash

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Dutch

Wikipedia ^nl

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑs
• IPA: /ʋɑs/

Etymology 1

Cognate with English wash.

Noun

was m. (plural wassen, diminutive wasje)

1. laundry, clothes that need to be washed, or just have been washed.

Verb

was

1. first-person singular present indicative of wassen.
2. imperative of wassen.

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch *was, from Proto-Germanic *wahsan. Cognate with English wax.

Noun

was m. and n. (plural wassen)

1. wax
2. growth

Verb

was

1. first-person singular present indicative of wassen.
2. imperative of wassen.

Derived terms

• bijenwas
• gewas n.
• uitwas
• uit de kluiten gewassen

Etymology 3

Cognate with English was.

Verb

was

1. singular past indicative of zijn.
2. singular past indicative of wezen.

Anagrams

• swa

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German

Etymology

From Old High German (h)waz, originally *(h)wat, compare Dutch wat.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /vas/

• audio

  (file)

• Audio (Bavarian)

  (file)

Pronoun

was

1. (interrogative) what
2. (relative) which

Derived terms

• was für

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Gothic

Romanization

was

1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐍃

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Low German

Verb

was

1. was; first-person singular simple past tense indicative of węsen (to be).
2. was; Third-person singular simple past tense indicative of węsen (to be).
3. wash; apocoped form of wasse, singular imperative of wassen; mainly used in the Netherlands, equivalent to other dialekts' wasche/waske
4. wax; apocoped form of wasse, singular imperative of wassen
5. grow; apocoped form of wasse, singular imperative of wassen

Usage notes

Notes on the verb węsen (to be): In recent times (~1800) the old Conjunctive wer is used in place of was by many speakers. This might be the old Conjunctive which is now used as a preterite or a reduction of weren, which is the Preterite Plural Indicative of the verb. It might also be an imitation of the High German cognate war. Many smaller dialectal clusters do this, but no dialect does it. That means: even though there are many regions within e.g. Lower-Saxony that use wer for was, maybe even the majority, there is no straight connection between them, i.e. which form is used can depend on preference, speaker and specific region. Due to this "one town this way, one town that way"-nature of the situation no form can be named 'standard' for a greater dialect, p.e. Lower-Saxonian.

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Mayangna

Noun

was

1. water

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Polish

Pronoun

was

1. Genitive, accusative and locative of wy (you, plural).

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Scots

Noun

was

1. Plural form of wa.