עס

Yiddish

Etymology 1

From Middle High German ëz, from Old High German iz, from Proto-Germanic *it. Cognate with German es.

Pronunciation

• (full form) IPA^(key): /ɛs/; (contraction) /s/, /sə/

Pronoun

עס • (es) n

1. it: third-person singular pronoun referring to a neuter noun
2. it, there (placeholder/dummy pronoun)

   עס רעגנט

   es regnt

   it’s raining

   עס שײַנט די זון

   es shaynt di zun

   The sun's shining. (lit. It shines the sun.)

Usage notes

Often, but not always, human nouns that are grammatically neuter use ער (er, “he”) or זי (zi, “she”) depending on their natural gender.

The pronoun can also be used before a verb in order to place its subject after (as shown above).

Alternative forms

• סע (se) — common before verbs
• ס׳ (s'), ס״ (s") — contraction

  ס׳איז ― s'iz ― it is

See also

Yiddish personal pronouns

person	singular
	1st	2nd	3rd m	3rd f	3rd n
nominative	איך (ikh)	דו (du)	ער (er)	זי (zi)	עס (es)
dative	מיר (mir)	דיר (dir)	אים (im)	איר (ir)	אים (im)
accusative	מיך (mikh)	דיך (dikh)	אים (im)	זי (zi)	עס (es)
person	plural
	1st	2nd	3rd
nominative	מיר (mir)	איר (ir)	זיי (zey)
dative	אונדז (undz)	אײַך (aykh)	זיי (zey)
accusative	אונדז (undz)	אײַך (aykh)	זיי (zey)

See also the possessive pronouns.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛs/

Verb

עס • (es)

1. inflection of עסן (esn):
   1. first-person singular
   2. imperative singular