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. (copulative) 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.

2. (auxiliary) Used to form the perfect tense in certain cases; compare hê.
   1. Forms the perfect of the passive voice.

      Ek word geslaan. → Ek is geslaan.

      I am (being) beaten. → I was / have been beaten.

   2. Forms the perfect of gaan (“go”) + locative when the verb is elided.

      Hy gaan huis toe. → Hy is huis toe. (Without elision: Hy het huis toe gegaan.)

      He goes / is going home. → He went / has gone home.

   3. Optionally forms the perfect tense of the verbs wees (“be”), verloof raak (“get engaged”), trou (“marry”), skei (“get divorced”), oorly (“die”).

      My ouers sal hierdie jaar skei. → My ouers is hierdie jaar geskei. (Alternatively: ... het hierdie jaar geskei.)

      My parents will get divorced this year. → My parents got divorced this year.

      My ouma sal vannag oorly. → My ouma is vannag oorlede. (Alternatively: ... het vannag oorly.)

      My grandma will die tonight. → My grandma died tonight.

   4. (obsolete) Formerly formed the perfect tense of certain other intransitive verbs, e.g. kom (“come”).

Usage notes

• The perfect tense of wees has the form is gewees in main clauses, but gewees het in subclauses and in the infinitive (i.e. whenever the auxiliary follows the participle). In practice, only the infinitive use is common: Ek sou baie kwaad gewees het as jy dit gedoen het. (“I would have been very angry if you had done this.”). Otherwise the normal way to express the past is by means of the preterite was. In main clauses, the form was gewees is also common, especially in speech. (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

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wees

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

Alternative forms

• weese (Mooring)
• wiis (Sylt)

Etymology

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

Verb

wees

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Heligoland) to be

Usage notes

• The present conjugation of wees is highly irregular. Compare further kem, skel, wed, wel.

Conjugation

Conjugation of wees (Föhr-Amrum dialect)

infinitive I	wees
infinitive II	(tu) weesen
past participle	weesen
imperative singular	wees
imperative plural	wees’m
	present	past
1st singular	san	wiar
2nd singular	beest	wiarst
3rd singular	as	wiar
plural	san	wiar
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	san weesen	wiar weesen
2nd singular	beest weesen	wiarst weesen
3rd singular	as weesen	wiar weesen
plural	san weesen	wiar weesen
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skal wees	wal wees
2nd singular	skääl wees	wääl wees
3rd singular	skal wees	wal wees
plural	skel wees	wel wees

Spanish

Noun

wees m pl or f pl

1. plural of we