ve

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ve"

English

Etymology

The earliest known proposal of ve as a pronoun was by Philogus, in the July 1864 periodical of The Ladies' Repository, alongside possessive form vis and objective form vim. Philogus, calling it a "much-needed word," presented ve as an alternative to using "he or she," singular they, or one in sentences without a specified gender. On 8 May 1970, Varda One proposed ve alongside vis and ver in a feminist article titled "Manglish." Writer Keri Hulme used the same pronouns in her 1984 novel The Bone People, and Greg Egan used them in his novels Distress (1995) and Diaspora (1998).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /vi/
• Homophones: V, v, vee
• Rhymes: -iː

Pronoun

ve (third-person singular, nominative case, accusative ver, possessive adjective vis, possessive noun vers, reflexive verself)

1. (rare, epicene) Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, equivalent to singular they.

Synonyms

• see Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns

Anagrams

• E.V., EV, Ev, eV, μeV

---

Aiwoo

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *poli, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bəli, from Proto-Austronesian *bəli.

Verb

ve

1. to buy

References

• Lackey, W.J.. & Boerger, B.H. (2021), “Reexamining the Phonological History of Oceanic's Temotu subgroup”, in Oceanic Linguistics.

---

Albanian

Alternative forms

• (Gheg): vo
• (Shkodër): vø
• (Arbëresh): vö

Etymology 1

From Old Tosk *vae, from Old Albanian vōe (still at Malagija), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm (“egg”). Orel, citing Bopp, Camarda and Çabej, argues the Old Albanian word descends from a borrowing from Latin ōvum. The PIE etymology was earlier supported by Norbert Jokl.

Noun

ve f (indefinite plural ve, definite singular veja, definite plural vetë)

1. egg

Declension

declension of ve

	indefinite forms (trajta të pashquara)			definite forms (trajta të shquara)
	singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)		singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)
nominative (emërore)	ve	ve		veja	vetë
accusative (kallëzore)	ve	ve		vejan	vetë
genitive (gjinore) (i/e/të/së)	veje	veve		vejas	vevet
dative (dhanore)	veje	veve		vejas	vevet
ablative (rrjedhore)	veje	vesh		vejas	vevet

Synonyms

• vezë

Derived terms

• vej
• vemje
• veth
• vezë

 

Hyponyms

• ve fërgesë (“fried egg”)
• ve peshku (“fish roe”)
• ve surbull (“soft-boiled egg”)
• ve llukë (“rotten egg”)

Etymology 2

Vowel shortened from dialectal vē (identical to plural), from dialectal vejë, from Proto-Albanian *widewā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂ (compare English widow, Latin vidua).

Alternative forms

• vejë

Adjective

i ve m (feminine e ve, masculine plural të ve)

1. widowed

Noun

ve f (indefinite plural va)

1. widow, widower

Synonyms

• vejanë, vejushë

Derived terms

• vejan
• vejëri
• vejëroj
• vejme
• vejni
• vejnoj
• vejushë

 

---

Catalan

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e

Noun

ve f (plural ves)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter V.

Derived terms

• ve baixa
• ve doble

Usage notes

In some dialects of Catalan, the sounds associated with the letter b and the letter v are the same: [β]. In order to differentiate the names be and ve in those dialects, the letters are often called be alta (“high B”) and ve baixa (“low V”).

Verb

ve

1. third-person singular present indicative form of venir

---

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛ/

• audio

  (file)

Preposition

ve

1. in

Usage notes

• The more usual form is v, while ve is used before words starting with f, v, w and certain consonant clusters.

---

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse vei, from Proto-Germanic *wai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːˀ/, [ˈʋeːˀ]
• Rhymes: -eːˀ

Noun

ve (singular definite veen, plural indefinite veer)

1. pain
2. contraction of labour, birth pang

Declension

Declension of ve

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ve	veen	veer	veerne
genitive	ves	veens	veers	veernes

Further reading

• “ve” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “ve” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

---

East Masela

Noun

ve

1. water

References

• Taber, M. (1993). Toward a better understanding of the indigenous languages of southwestern Maluku. Oceanic Linguistics. 32:2. pp. 389-441. Cited in: "East Masela" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

---

Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowed from German weh, from Proto-Germanic *wai, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (“oh!; woe!; alas!”). Compare Yiddish וויי‎‎ (vey‎), Dutch wee, Latin vae, Ancient Greek οὐαί (ouaí), Spanish guay, Italian guai, dialectal French vé, Welsh gwae, Latvian vai, Persian وای‎ (vây), Arabic وَيْل‎ (wayl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ve]
• Hyphenation: ve

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

ve

1. alas, woe

---

Faroese

Etymology

Ultimately, from Latin vē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veː/

Noun

ve n (genitive singular ves, plural ve)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter V.

Declension

Declension of ve
n3	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ve	veið	ve	veini
accusative	ve	veið	ve	veini
dative	vei	veinum	veum	veunum
genitive	ves	vesins	vea	veanna

Synonyms

• (archaic) vaff, vavv

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) bókstavur; a / fyrra a, á, be, de, edd, e, eff, ge, há, i / fyrra i, í / fyrra í, jodd, ká, ell, emm, enn, o, ó, pe, err, ess, te, u, ú, ve, seinna i, seinna í, seinna a, ø

---

French

Noun

v^e (plural v^es)

1. Abbreviation of veuve.

---

Galician

Verb

ve

1. inflection of ver:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

---

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French ver (“worm”)

Noun

ve

1. worm

---

Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto ve, from German weh. Compare also Latin vae.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve/, /vɛ/

Noun

ve (plural ve-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter V/v.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

Interjection

ve

1. alas, oh dear

   Ve! Me obliviis la furnelo acendite!

   Oh dear! I forgot the stove on!

---

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve/
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: ve

Pronoun

ve

1. Alternative form of vi (“to you”)

   Ve lo consiglio ― I recommend it (to you)

   Ve ne ne sarei molto grato ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes

Used when followed by a third-person direct object clitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).

See also

Italian personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Reflexive	Accusative	Dative	Conjunctive	Disjunctive	Locative	Partitive
Singular	first	—	io	mi, m', -mi			me	me	—
	second	—	tu	ti, t', -ti			te	te
	third	m	lui	si2, s', -si	lo, l', -lo	gli, -gli	glie, se2	lui, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
		f	lei, Lei1		la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1	le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1		lei, Lei1, sé
Plural	first	—	noi	ci, c', -ci			ce	noi	—
	second	—	voi, Voi4	vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4			ve	voi, Voi4
	third	m	loro, Loro1	si, s', -si	li, Li1, -li, -Li1	gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro1	glie, se	loro, Loro1, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
		f			le, Le1, -le, -Le1
1	Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
2	Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
3	Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language.
4	Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).

---

Japanese

Romanization

ve

1. Rōmaji transcription of ゔぇ
2. Rōmaji transcription of ゑ゙
3. Rōmaji transcription of ヴェ
4. Rōmaji transcription of ヹ

---

Lahu

Particle

ve

1. particle used after a verb similar in fuction to English "to". E.g. "ha ve" = "to winnow"
2. Relativizer particle

---

Middle English

Pronoun

ve

1. Alternative form of we (“we”)

---

Neapolitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve/
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

ve

1. you (formal or plural, reflexive or dative or accusative)

Coordinate terms

Number	Person	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Reflexive	Possessive	Prepositional
singular	first-person	io (i')	me			mìo, mìa, mieje, meje	me, méne
	second-person, familiar	tu	te			tùjo, tòja, tùoje, tòje	te, téne
	second-person, formal	vuje	ve			vuósto, vósta, vuóste, vóste	vuje
	third-person, masculine	ìsso	'o, 'u (lo, lu)	'i, 'e (li, le)	se	sùjo, sòja, sùoje, sòje	ìsso
	third-person, feminine	éssa	'a (la)	'e (le)			éssa
plural	first-person	nuje	ce			nuósto, nòsta, nuóste, nòste	nuje
	second-person, plural	vuje	ve			vuósto, vòsta, vuóste, vòste	vuje
	third-person, masculine	ìsse	'i, 'e (li, le)	llòro	se	llòro (invariable)	llòro
	third-person, feminine	llòro	'e (le)

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vei, væ, from Proto-Germanic *wai.

Interjection

ve

1. woe!

Related terms

• våle

Noun

ve m (definite singular veen, indefinite plural vear, definite plural veane)

1. birth pang(s)
2. pain, longing

ve n (definite singular veet, indefinite plural ve, definite plural vea)

1. (obsolete except in "ve og vel") pain

Derived terms

• fødselsve

Synonyms

• ri

Etymology 2

From Old Norse vé, from Proto-Germanic *wīhą.

Noun

ve n (definite singular veet, indefinite plural ve, definite plural vea)

1. (historical, in Norse times) holy place, place of offering

Derived terms

• varg i veum

References

• “ve” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

---

Occitan

Noun

ve f (plural ves)

1. vee (the letter v, V)

Derived terms

• ve dobla

---

Serbo-Croatian

Adverb

ve (Cyrillic spelling ве)

1. (Kajkavian) now

Synonyms

• sada

---

Slovene

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋéː/

Pronoun

vẹ̑

1. you (feminine and neuter plural, more than two)
2. (formal) you (feminine and neuter singular)

Inflection

Declension of ve (irregular, suppletive)

singular
	1st person	2nd person	reflexive
nominative	jàz	tí	—
accusative	méne, me	tébe, te	sébe, se
genitive	méne, me	tébe, te	sébe, se
dative	méni, mi	tébi, ti	sébi, si
locative	méni	tébi	sébi
instrumental	menój, máno	tebój, tábo	sebój, sábo
possessive	mój	tvój	svój
dual
	1st person	2nd person	reflexive
nominative	mídva m, médve/mídve f or n	vídva m, védve/vídve f or n	—
accusative	náju	váju	sébe, se
genitive	náju	váju	sébe, se
dative	náma	váma	sébi, si
locative	náju	váju	sébi
instrumental	náma	váma	sebój, sábo
possessive	nájin	vájin	svój
plural
	1st person	2nd person	reflexive
nominative	mí m, mé f or n	ví m, vé f or n	—
accusative	nàs	vàs	sébe, se
genitive	nàs	vàs	sébe, se
dative	nàm	vàm	sébi, si
locative	nàs	vàs	sébi
instrumental	nàmi	vàmi	sebój, sábo
possessive	nàš	vàš	svój

See also

Slovene personal pronouns

			singular	dual	plural
1st person		m	jaz	midva	mi
		f		medve, midve	me
2nd person	familiar	m	ti	vidva	vi
		f		vedve, vidve	ve
	polite	m	vi	vidva	vi
		f	vi	vedve, vidve	ve
3rd person		m	on	onadva	oni
		f	ona	onedve, onidve	one
		n	ono	onedve, onidve	ona

---

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbe/, [ˈbe]
• Rhymes: -e
• Homophone: be

Verb

ve

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of ver.
2. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of ver.
3. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of ver.
4. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of ir.

Usage notes

• The voseo imperative of ir is typically replaced with the imperative of andar, that is andá.

Noun

ve f (plural ves)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter V.

   Synonyms: uve, ve corta

Derived terms

• doble ve
• ve de vaca
• ve doble

 

Further reading

• “ve”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

---

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish ve, from Old Norse vei, væ, from Proto-Germanic *wai, from Proto-Indo-European *wai. Cognate with Danish ve, Icelandic vei, Old Saxon and Middle High German wê, German weh, Dutch wee, Old English wá, English woe, and also Latin vae. The interjection is original in Old Swedish. The noun might have appeared from that interjection or by loan from Middle Low German.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veː/
• Rhymes: -eː
• Homophone: V (the letter)

Interjection

ve

1. woe, pity you!

   ve dig!

   ack och ve!

Noun

ve n

1. woe, misery

   ditt väl och ve

   your weal and woe, your fortune and misery

Declension

Declension of ve
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ve	ve	ve	ve
Genitive	ves	ves	ves	ves

Related terms

• veklaga
• veklagan
• vemod
• verop

References

• ve in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
• ve in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (8th ed., 1923)
• ve in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Anagrams

• ev.

---

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve/

Etymology 1

Noun

ve

1. The name of the Latin-script letter V.

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish و‎ (ve), from Arabic وَ‎ (wa).

Conjunction

ve

1. and

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze

---

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [vɛ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [vɛ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [vɛ˧˧] ~ [jɛ˧˧]
• Homophone: de

Etymology 1

From Middle Vietnamese ue. Probably onomatopoeic, from the cry of the cicada.

Noun

(classifier con) ve • (蟡)

1. cicada

   Synonyms: ve sầu, ve ve

2. tick

Etymology 2

From French verre (“glass (substance); objects made of that substance”).

Noun

ve • (䃣, 𡐮)

1. small bottle or jar
2. glass (substance) (only in the compound bi ve (“glass marble”))

See also

Derived terms

• bi ve
• ve chai

 

Etymology 3

Verb

ve • (𢠿)

1. (chiefly in compounds) to flirt

See also

Derived terms

• ve vãn

 

---

Westrobothnian

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vér, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy, plural of *éǵh₂.

Pronunciation

• (common) IPA^(key): [ʋéː]
• (southern regional) IPA^(key): [ʋíː]
• (rare, Kalix), IPA^(key): [wéː]

  Rhymes: -éː

• (unstressed) IPA^(key): [ʋe̞]

  Rhymes: -ɛ

Pronoun

ve

1. First person plural pronoun; we (singular jig, jeg).

Declension

Westrobothnian personal pronouns.

number	first person	second person	reflexive	third person
case	singular			singular masculine	singular feminine	singular neuter
nominative	jig, jeg, jög	du, döu		hɑnn, hånn	hu, ho, hon	he
accusative	meg	deg	seg		hana, na, a, hänner	he, ne, e
dative	meg (me)	deg (de)	seg (se)	hönöm, hano, håno	hannar, hänner, hennar, henar, nar	dy, dyij, di
genitive	min, myin	din, dyin	sin, syin	hɑnʃ, hansches, hånsch	hannars, hännars, hennars, henars	diss
case	plural			plural masculine	plural feminine	plural neuter
nominative	ve	ge, je, ji		de, di, dȯm, dem, döm
accusative	ass, åss	ge, je, ji	seg
dative	ass, åss	gerom, irom	seg (se)	dȯm, dem, döm, do
genitive	vor, wȯhn, våor, vånn, voden	jera, jänn, jern, iden, jedar, idar	sin, syin	dern, dera, däris, daires	dera, däris, daires	derä

Alternative forms

• we
• vä
• wä

Etymology 2

Preposition

ve

1. Alternative form of wä (“with”)

Etymology 3

ve m

1. Alternative form of ved (“wood”)