was

Betekenis

first-person singular simple past indicative of be.
third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
(colloquial) Used in phrases with existential there when the semantic subject is (usually third-person) plural.
second-person singular simple past indicative of be; were.
(colloquial) first-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.
(colloquial) third-person plural simple past indicative of be; were.

Frequentie

Uitgesproken als (IPA)

/wɒz/

Etymologie

From Middle English was, from Old English wæs, from Proto-Germanic *was, (compare Scots was, West Frisian was (dated, wie is generally preferred today), Dutch was, Low German was, German war, Swedish var), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂we-h₂wós-e (compare Kamkata-viri vos-, Sanskrit उवास (uvā́sa)), from *h₂wes- (“to reside”), whence also vestal. 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 *bʰuH- (“to become”). The forms 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”).

Cognate met Nederlands

was

Cognate met Duits

war

Nieuw

be

1. As an auxiliary verb:
2. As an auxiliary verb:
3. As an auxiliary verb:
4. As an auxiliary verb:
5. As an auxiliary verb:
6. As a copulative verb:
7. As a copulative verb:
8. As a copulative verb:
9. As a copulative verb:
10. As a copulative verb:
11. As a copulative verb:
12. As a copulative verb:
13. As a copulative verb:
14. As a copulative verb:
15. As a copulative verb:
16. As a copulative verb:
17. As a copulative verb:
18. As an intransitive lexical verb:
19. As an intransitive lexical verb:
20. As an intransitive lexical verb:
21. As an intransitive lexical verb:
22. As an intransitive lexical verb: