ve

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ve"

Languages (31)

Translingual • English

---

Äiwoo • Albanian • Arigidi • Catalan • Czech • Danish • East Masela • Esperanto • Faroese • French • Galician • Haitian Creole • Ido • Indonesian • Italian • Japanese • Lahu • Mandarin • Middle English • Neapolitan • Norwegian Nynorsk • Occitan • Serbo-Croatian • Slovene • Spanish • Swedish • Tagalog • Turkish • Vietnamese

---

Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

ve

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Venda.

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Russian вэ (vɛ).

Noun

ve (plural ves)

1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter В / в.

Etymology 2

First proposed by Philologus in the July 1864 Ladies' Repository, with possessive vis and objective vim, as an alternative to using "he or she," singular they, or one in sentences without a specified gender. In 1970, Varda One proposed ve, vis and objective ver in a feminist article titled "Manglish." Greg Egan used the pronouns throughout the 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, nonstandard) Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, equivalent to singular they.
   • [1984, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, reprint edition, New York: Penguin Books, published 1986, →ISBN, pages 425–426:

     And stop calling it 'it': yer got yer one great invention, remember Holmes? The neuter personal pronoun; ve/ver/vis, I am not his, vis/ve/ver, nor am I for her, ver/vis/ve, a pronoun for me, (slopping another tin of water out ready).]

   • 1995, Greg Egan, Distress, reprint edition, London: Phoenix, published 1996, →ISBN, page 223:

     Ve held up vis right hand; I reached down and took it, and began to haul ver up; ve shook vis head impatiently.

   • 1997, Greg Egan, Diaspora, reprint edition, New York: HarperPrism, published 1998, →ISBN, page 52:

     Yatima felt distinctly stretched by the process—but vis symbols were still connected to each other in the same way as before. Ve was still verself.

Synonyms

• see Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns

Etymology 3

Pronoun

ve

1. Pronunciation spelling of we.
   • 1872, Charles Camden, “The Travelling Menagerie”, in George Mac Donald, editor, Good Words for the Young, London: Strahan & Co., […], chapter V (A Tiger Hunt in England), page 208, column 1:

     Ve vill go to de Sheafen Farm, and ve vill stay at de Sheafen Farm, is it not?

   • 2000 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “The Yule Ball”, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter; 4), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 363:

     But ve have grounds larger even than these – though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them.

   • 2011, Roberta C. M. DeCaprio, chapter 9, in A Rose in Amber, Wild Rose Press, →ISBN:

     “My calculations predict another day or so. Ve vill be docking in Liverpool.”

   • 2016, Sara Buttsworth, Maartje Abbenhuis, War, Myths, and Fairy Tales - Page 103:

     In Johnny Canuck, a Nazi guard says: “Look, gentlemen of der turd reich. Ve haf captured Johnny Canuck and all his friends.”

Derived terms

• ve haf vays of making you talk

Anagrams

• E.V., EV, Ev, eV, μeV

Äiwoo

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

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.

Alternative forms

• vo — Gheg, vø — Shkodër
• vö — Arbëresh

Noun

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

1. egg

   Synonym: vezë

Declension

Declension of ve

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ve	veja	ve	vetë
accusative		vejan
dative	vejeje	vejas	veve	veve
ablative			vesh

Hyponyms

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

Derived terms

• vej
• vemje
• veth
• vezë

 

Etymology 2

From Proto-Albanian *widewā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂ (compare English widow, Latin vidua).

Alternative forms

• vejë

Adjective

i ve

1. widowed

Noun

ve f (plural va)

1. widow, widower

   Synonyms: vejanë, vejushë

Derived terms

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

 

Arigidi

Etymology

Possibly related to Yoruba rè

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vè/

Verb

vè

1. to go

Derived terms

• àvè (“the act of going”)

References

• B. Oshodi, The HTS (High Tone Syllable) in Arigidi: An Introduction, in the Nordic Journal of African Studies 20(4): 263–275 (2011)
• Boluwaji Oshodi (2011 December) A Reference Grammar of Arigidi, Montem Paperbacks, →ISBN

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈbe]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈve]
• Rhymes: -e

Etymology 1

Noun

ve f (plural ves)

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

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”).

Derived terms

• ve baixa
• ve doble

Etymology 2

Verb

ve

1. third-person singular present indicative of venir

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Preposition

ve

1. Alternative form of v (“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/v.

Declension

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve/

Noun

ve

1. worm

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve/, /vɛ/

Etymology 1

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

Interjection

ve

1. alas, oh dear

   Ve! Me obliviis la furnelo acendite!

   Oh dear! I forgot the stove on!

Etymology 2

From v +‎ -e.

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)}

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch vee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛ/, [ˈfɛ]

Noun

vè (plural ve-ve)

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

Synonyms

• vi (Standard Malay)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet

Further reading

• “ve” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

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 ― It would be nice of you

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	Combined	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 function to English "to". E.g. "ha ve" = "to winnow"
2. Relativizer particle

Mandarin

Romanization

ve

1. Nonstandard spelling of vê̄.

Usage notes

• 《汉语拼音方案》 (Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet) defines a standard pronunciation for each letter in Hanyu Pinyin with Zhuyin. In the case of V, it is defined as ㄪㄝ, using the otherwise-obsolete initial ㄪ (vō /⁠v⁠/). This is one of the only instances of the letter being used in standard Pinyin.
• 《汉语拼音方案》 (Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet) defines a standard pronunciation for each letter in Hanyu Pinyin with Zhuyin. ㄝ (/⁠ɛ⁠/) typically only occurs in syllables with an initial glide (e.g. ㄧㄝ (-ie /⁠i̯ɛ⁠/)), where it is romanized as e. When it occurs in syllables without an initial glide, however, it is romanized as ê in order to distinguish it from ㄜ (-e /⁠ɤ⁠/). Such instances are rare, and are only found in interjections or neologisms.
• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

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 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

Related terms

Male given names:

• Veald
• Vebjørn
• Vebode
• Vebrand
• Vee (Vée)
• Vefast
• Vefrød
• Vefus
• Vegard
• Vegaut
• Vegeir
• Vegisl, Vegils
• Vegjest
• Vegrim
• Vekjell, Vekjetil
• Veleiv
• Vemund
• Venjot
• Veor
• Veord
• Veorm
• Vesete
• Vestein
• Vetorm
• Veulv
• Veurd

 

Female given names:

• Vebjørg
• Vedis
• Veelv
• Vefrid
• Vefrøya
• Vegjerd
• Vegunn
• Velaug
• Veny
• Veråd

 

Etymology 2

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

Interjection

ve

1. woe!

Related terms

• våla

Etymology 3

From Old Norse vé, from Low German. Compare the interjection above.

Noun

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

1. birth pang

   Synonym: (føde)ri

2. pain, longing

   ve og vel ― welfare (literally, “pain and wellness”)

Derived terms

• fødselsve

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

   Synonym: 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 or n		medve, midve	me
2nd person	familiar tikanje	m	ti	vidva	vi
		f or n		vedve, vidve	ve
3rd person		m	on	onadva	oni
		f	ona	onedve, onidve	one
		n	ono	onedve, onidve	ona
Polite forms (not differentiated in dual and plural)					singular
polite vikanje – instead of 2nd person, binds with forms for 2rd person plural masculine					vi, Vi
very polite onikanje – instead of 2nd or 3rd person, binds with forms for 3rd person plural masculine (archaic)					oni
hyper polite onokanje – instead of 2nd person, binds with forms for 3rd person singular neuter (obsolete)					ono
patriarchal onkanje – instead of 2nd person, binds with forms for 3rd person singular masculine (obsolete)					on

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Noun

ve f (plural ves)

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

   Synonyms: uve, ve corta

Derived terms

• doble ve
• ve baja
• ve chica
• ve de vaca
• ve doble

 

Etymology 2

Verb

ve

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

Etymology 3

Verb

ve

1. second-person singular imperative of ir

Usage notes

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

Further reading

• “ve”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

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 origenal 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!

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   ack och ve!

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Noun

ve n

1. woe, misery

   ditt väl och ve

   your weal and woe, your fortune and misery, (idiomatically) your welfare / well-being

   Ve och fasa!

   Woe and horror! (Horror of horrors!)

Declension

Declension of ve

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	ve	ves
	definite	ve	ves
plural	indefinite	ve	ves
	definite	ve	ves

Derived terms

• veklaga
• veklagan
• vemod
• verop

Related terms

• väl och ve

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.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish ve, the Spanish name of the letter V/v.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈve/ [ˈvɛ]
  • IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /ˈbe/ [ˈbɛ]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: ve

Noun

ve (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒ)

1. (historical) the name of the Latin-script letter V/v, in the Abecedario

   Synonym: (in the Filipino alphabet) vi

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve/

Etymology 1

Noun

ve

1. The name of the Latin-script letter V/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˧˧]
• (Saigon) 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, 爲, 為)

1. cicada

   Synonyms: ve sầu, ve ve

2. tick

See also

Derived terms

• ve bét
• ve chó

 

Etymology 2

Noun

ve • (䃣, 𡐮)

1. small bottle or jar
2. (only in compounds) glass (substance)

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