sein
English
Pronunciation
Audio (UK) (file)
Basque
Etymology
From Proto-Basque *seni.
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Declension
indefinite | singular | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
absolutive | sein | seina | seinak |
ergative | seinek | seinak | seinek |
dative | seini | seinari | seinei |
genitive | seinen | seinaren | seinen |
comitative | seinekin | seinarekin | seinekin |
causative | seinengatik | seinarengatik | seinengatik |
benefactive | seinentzat | seinarentzat | seinentzat |
instrumental | seinez | seinaz | seinez |
inessive | seinengan | seinarengan | seinengan |
locative | — | — | — |
allative | seinengana | seinarengana | seinengana |
terminative | seinenganaino | seinarenganaino | seinenganaino |
directive | seinenganantz | seinarenganantz | seinenganantz |
destinative | seinenganako | seinarenganako | seinenganako |
ablative | seinengandik | seinarengandik | seinengandik |
partitive | seinik | — | — |
prolative | seintzat | — | — |
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɛi̯n/
sein (NL) (file) - Hyphenation: sein
- Rhymes: -ɛi̯n
Etymology 1
From Old French seigne, a northern variant of signe, from Latin signum.[1] Doublet of zegen.
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- → Indonesian: sein
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
References
- sein; in J. de Vries & F. de Tollenaere, "Etymologisch Woordenboek", Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1986 (14de druk)
Estonian
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *saina, borrowed from a Baltic language, compare Latvian siena. Finnish seinä is of the same origin.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ˈsei̯n/
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | sein | seinad |
genitive | seina | seinte / seinade |
partitive | seina | seinu / seinasid |
illative | seina / seinasse | seintesse / seinadesse |
inessive | seinas | seintes / seinades |
elative | seinast | seintest / seinadest |
allative | seinale | seintele / seinadele |
adessive | seinal | seintel / seinadel |
ablative | seinalt | seintelt / seinadelt |
translative | seinaks | seinteks / seinadeks |
terminative | seinani | seinteni / seinadeni |
essive | seinana | seintena / seinadena |
abessive | seinata | seinteta / seinadeta |
comitative | seinaga | seintega / seinadega |
Finnish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsei̯n/, [ˈs̠e̞i̯n]
- Rhymes: -ein
- Syllabification(key): sein
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French sein, inherited from Latin sinus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sinos. Doublet of sinus. Compare Italian seno, Romanian sân, Romansch sain, Portuguese seio, Spanish seno.
Pronunciation
Noun
sein m (plural seins)
- (anatomy) breast (the chest)
- sur votre jeune sein laissez rouler ma tête ― let my head roll on your young breast
- (anatomy) breast
- Elle a des gros seins ― she has big breasts
- (literary) womb
- elle a porté cet enfant dans son sein ― she carried this child in her womb
- bosom
- au sein de la famille ― in the bosom of the family
- le sein du Père ― the bosom of the Father
Synonyms
Derived terms
Further reading
- “sein”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German
Alternative forms
- seyn (obsolete)
- syn (obsolete) (frühneuhochdeutsch, for example used by the following authors: Sebastian Brant, Das Narrenschiff, 1494; Jacob Ruff, Adam und Heva)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /zaɪ̯n/ (prescriptive standard)
- IPA(key): /saɛ̯n/ (Austria)
(file) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪ̯n
- Homophone: seinen (according to a common pronunciation of this form)
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle High German sîn, from Old High German sīn (“to be”) (suppleted with Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”) and *beuną (“to be, exist, become”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be, exist”). Cognate with Dutch zijn (“to be”), Low German sien. More at sooth.
Verb
sein (irregular, third-person singular present ist, past tense war, past participle gewesen, past subjunctive wäre, auxiliary sein)
- (copulative, with a predicate adjective or predicate nominative) to be
- Das ist schön. ― That is beautiful.
- Das ist ein Auto. ― That is a car.
- (impersonal, with a dative object and certain adjectives) to feel, (to experience a condition)
- Usage: In this sense sein is always conjugated in the third person singular and takes a dative noun. The impersonal subject es may be present, but is often taken as implied. For example: "Mir ist warm," "Mir ist es warm," and "Es ist mir warm," may all be translated as "I'm warm," or literally as "(To) me (it) is warm." See Usage notes for the respective adjectives.
- Ist dir kalt? ― Are you cold?
- Mir ist schlecht. ― I'm sick.
- Dem Mann ist schwindelig. ― The man feels dizzy.
- Den Kindern ist langweilig. ― The children are bored.
- (impersonal, with a dative object and nach or danach, sometimes with zumute) to feel like, to be in the mood for
- Usage: As in the previous sense sein takes a dative noun and is always conjugated according to the impersonal subject es, although it is usually omitted.
- Uns ist nach einem Film zumute. ― We feel like watching a movie.
- Mir ist nicht danach. ― I don't feel like it.
- (auxiliary) forms the present perfect and past perfect tenses of certain intransitive verbs
- Er ist alt geworden. ― He has become old.
- (intransitive) to exist; there to be; to be alive
- Was nicht ist, kann noch werden. (a common proverb)
- That which does not exist now, may come into existence.
- Wenn ich nicht mehr bin, erbst du das Haus.
- When I am no more, you'll inherit the house.
- (intransitive, colloquial) to have the next turn (in a game, in a queue, etc.)
- Du bist. ― It’s your turn.
- Du bist nach mir. ― Your turn is after mine.
- (intransitive, childish) to be "it"; to be the tagger in a game of tag
- Du bist! ― You're it!
- Ich bin nicht mehr. ― I'm not it anymore.
Conjugation
infinitive | sein | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | seiend | ||||
past participle | gewesen | ||||
auxiliary | sein | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich bin | wir sind | i | ich sei | wir seien |
du bist | ihr seid | du seist du seiest |
ihr seiet | ||
er ist | sie sind | er sei | sie seien | ||
preterite | ich war | wir waren | ii | ich wäre | wir wären |
du warst | ihr wart | du wärst du wärest |
ihr wärt ihr wäret | ||
er war | sie waren | er wäre | sie wären | ||
imperative | sei (du) | seid (ihr) |
Alternative forms:
- Past participle: gewest (obsolete; poetical)
- Second-person plural preterite indicative: waret (older; poetical)
The subjunctive I (first and third person) and indicative (first person only) forms are also used as imperatives.
- Seien wir mal ehrlich./Sind wir mal ehrlich. ― Let’s be honest.
- (second-person formal) Seien Sie mal ehrlich. ― Be honest!
Etymology 2
From Middle High German sein, sīn, from Old High German sīn, from Proto-West Germanic *sīn, from Proto-Germanic *sīnaz (“his own, her own, its own, their own”) (a reflexive possessive), from genitive of Proto-Indo-European *swé with denominative suffix Proto-Indo-European *-nós, equivalent to the genitive form of *se-.
Cognate with Low German sien (“his, its”), Dutch zijn (“his, its”), Danish sin (“his, her, its, their”), Old English sīn (“his, its”).
Determiner
sein
- his
- Daniel schickt seiner Schwester eine SMS.
- Daniel is sending a text to his sister.
- Der Kater spielt oft mit seinen Spielsachen.
- The cat often plays with his toys.
- its (agreeing with a masculine or neuter noun)
- der Mond und sein Licht
- the moon and its light
- das Schaf und seine Lämmer
- the sheep and its lambs
- (informal) Used to express an approximate number, often with so.
- Der kostet so seine zweihundert Euro.
- That one costs around two hundred euros.
- one's
- Man muss seinem Herzen folgen.
- One must follow one’s heart.
Usage notes
When used as a pronoun, the nominative masculine takes the form seiner, and the nominative/accusative neuter takes the form seines or seins.
- mein Vater und seiner ― my father and his
- mein Kind und sein(e)s ― my child and his
Declension
Declension of sein | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | |
nominative | sein | seine | sein | seine |
genitive | seines | seiner | seines | seiner |
dative | seinem | seiner | seinem | seinen |
accusative | seinen | seine | sein | seine |
Nominatives of the possessive determiners:
masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
First-person singular | mein | meine | mein | meine |
Second-person singular | dein | deine | dein | deine |
Dein | Deine | Dein | Deine | |
Third-person singular | sein | seine | sein | seine |
ihr | ihre | ihr | ihre | |
First-person plural | unser | uns(e)re | unser | uns(e)re |
Second-person plural | euer | eure | euer | eure |
Third-person plural | ihr | ihre | ihr | ihre |
Second-person formal | Ihr | Ihre | Ihr | Ihre |
Further reading
Anagrams
Gothic
Hunsrik
Etymology
From Middle High German sein, sīn, from Old High German sīn, from Proto-West Germanic *sīn (“his”). Cognate with German sein.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /saɪ̯n/
Inflection
nominative / accusative | dative | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | |
1st person singular | mein | mein | mein | mein, meine1 | meim | meiner | meim | meine |
2nd person singular | dein | dein | dein | dein, deine1 | deim | deiner | deim | deine |
3rd person singular (m/n) | sein | sein | sein | sein, seine1 | seim | seiner | seim | seine |
3rd person singular (f) | eere | eere | eere | eere | eerem | eerer | eerem | eere |
1st person plural | unser | unser | unser | unser, unsre1 | unsrem | unsrer | unsrem | unsre |
2nd person plural | eier | eier | eier | eier, eire1 | eirem | eirer | eirem | eire |
3rd person plural | eere | eere | eere | eere | eerem | eerer | eerem | eere |
1Form used when the plural of the noun is the same as the singular
Further reading
Indonesian
Etymology
From Dutch sein (“signal”), from Old French seigne, a northern variant of signe, from Latin signum. Doublet of sinyal.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /seɪ̯n/
- Hyphenation: sé‧in
Alternative forms
Further reading
- “sein” 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.
Middle English
Middle Irish
Norwegian Bokmål
Adjective
sein (neuter singular seint, definite singular and plural seine, comparative seinere, indefinite superlative seinest, definite superlative seineste)
- alternative form of sen
References
- “sein” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɛɪːn/
Adjective
sein (neuter seint, definite singular and plural seine, comparative seinare, indefinite superlative seinast, definite superlative seinaste)
References
- “sein” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old French
Old Swedish
Romansch
Alternative forms
Veps
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *saina. Related to Finnish seinä.
Declension
Inflection of sein (inflection type 6/kuva) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative sing. | sein | ||
genitive sing. | seinän | ||
partitive sing. | seinäd | ||
partitive plur. | seinid | ||
singular | plural | ||
nominative | sein | seinäd | |
accusative | seinän | seinäd | |
genitive | seinän | seiniden | |
partitive | seinäd | seinid | |
essive-instructive | seinän | seinin | |
translative | seinäks | seinikš | |
inessive | seinäs | seiniš | |
elative | seinäspäi | seinišpäi | |
illative | seinähä | seinihe | |
adessive | seinäl | seinil | |
ablative | seinälpäi | seinilpäi | |
allative | seinäle | seinile | |
abessive | seinäta | seinita | |
comitative | seinänke | seinidenke | |
prolative | seinädme | seinidme | |
approximative I | seinänno | seinidenno | |
approximative II | seinännoks | seinidennoks | |
egressive | seinännopäi | seinidennopäi | |
terminative I | seinähäsai | seinihesai | |
terminative II | seinälesai | seinilesai | |
terminative III | seinässai | — | |
additive I | seinähäpäi | seinihepäi | |
additive II | seinälepäi | seinilepäi |
West Frisian
Etymology
From Dutch sein (“signal”), from Old French seigne, a northern variant of signe.
Further reading
- “sein (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011