wees

English

Noun

wees

1. plural of wee

Verb

wees

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of wee

Anagrams

• ewes, swee

Afrikaans

Alternative forms

• wies (Cape Afrikaans)

Etymology

From Dutch wezen, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną. See Dutch zijn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viəs/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

wees (present is, present participle synde, past was, past participle gewees)

1. To be.

   Ek was gister dronk gewees.

   I was drunk yesterday.

   Hy kon al 'n dokter gewees het.

   He could have been a doctor by now.

Usage notes

• Unlike other Afrikaans verbs, the past participle of wees (gewees) does not usually take the auxiliary verb het to form the perfect tense unless a modal verb is being used: Ek sou baie kwaad gewees het as jy dit gedoen het. (“I would have been very angry if you had done this.”) Outside of this construction, het gewees is rarely encountered and is considered nonstandard. The actual perfect tense of wees is is gewees, but this form is also very rare, being usually replaced with either was or was gewees. (The latter is formally a pluperfect, but is generally used without any semantic distinction.)

Conjugation

Conjugation of wees ("to be")

infinitive	wees
	present	past
indicative	is	was
subjunctive1	sy	ware
participle	synde	gewees
1. Rarely used.

Anagrams

• sewe

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋeːs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːs

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wêse, from Old Dutch wēso, from Proto-West Germanic *waiso, of uncertain origin, with no solid cognates outside of Germanic; possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂ (“widow”).

Cognate with German Waise, Middle Low German wêse, probably Old English *wāsa (in wuduwāsa).

Noun

wees m or f (plural wezen, diminutive weesje n)

1. An orphan, person or animal having survived both parents.
2. An orphaned one, left out of a sequence.

Derived terms

• halfwees, halve wees
• verweesd
• volle wees
• weeshuis
• weesjongen
• weeskamer
• weeskind
• weesmeester
• weesvader
• weesziekte

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

wees

1. imperative of zijn
2. imperative of wezen

Derived terms

• weesgegroet

Verb

wees

1. singular past indicative of wijzen

References

• Taaladvies.net on ‘wees’ or ‘ben’

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian wesa, which derives from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną.

Verb

wees

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Heligoland) to be

Conjugation

Conjugation of wees

infinitive I	wees
infinitive II	tu weesen
past participle	weesen
imperative singular	wees
imperative plural	wees'em
	present	past
1st-person singular	ik san	ik wiar
2nd-person singular	dü beest	dü wiarst
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/hat as	hi/jü/hat wiar
1st-person dual	wat san	wat wiar
2nd-person dual	jat san	jat wiar
1st-person plural	wi san	wi wiar
2nd-person plural	jam san	jam wiar
3rd-person plural	jo san	jo wiar
	perfect	pluperfect
1st-person singular	ik san weesen	ik wiar weesen
2nd-person singular	dü beest weesen	dü wiarst weesen
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/hat as weesen	hi/jü/hat wiar weesen
1st-person dual	wat san weesen	wat wiar weesen
2nd-person dual	jat san weesen	jat wiar weesen
1st-person plural	wi san weesen	wi wiar weesen
2nd-person plural	jam san weesen	jam wiar weesen
3rd-person plural	jo san weesen	jo wiar weesen
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st-person singular	ik skal wees	ik wal wees
2nd-person singular	dü skääl wees	dü wääl wees
3rd-person singular	hi/jü/hat skal wees	hi/jü/hat wal wees
1st-person dual	wat skel wees	wat wel wees
2nd-person dual	jat skel wees	wat wel wees
1st-person plural	wi skel wees	wi wel wees
2nd-person plural	jam skel wees	jam wel wees
3rd-person plural	jo skel wees	jo wel wees

Spanish

Noun

wees m pl or f pl

1. plural of we