ze

See also: Variations of "ze"

ze - English

Pronunciation

IPA: /zə/

Article

Nonstandard spelling of the (usually signifying a foreign accent, often French or German).
- Synonym: za

Pronunciation

IPA: /ziː/

Pronoun

(rare, nonstandard) a gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, equivalent to singular they, and coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.

Usage notes

The genderqueer community are the primary proponents of ze. One refers to a person with ze and hir or zir typically (a) when their gender is unknown, and one wishes to avoid assuming their gender, or (b) when they are neither male nor female in gender, making he and she (and also either/or terms like s/he or (s)he) inappropriate and potentially hurtful.

Synonyms

see English third-person singular pronouns

Coordinate terms

hir, hirs, hirself
zir, zirs, zirself

Noun

ze (plural zes)

The name of the Cyrillic script letter З / з.

Anagrams

EZ, Ez.

ze - Albanian

Noun

ze f (indefinite plural ze, definite singular zeja, definite plural zejet)

soul

Related terms

zemër

ze - Aukan

Noun

the sea, the ocean

ze - Basque

Pronunciation

IPA: /s̻e/, [s̻e̞]

Noun

ze inan

The name of the Latin-script letter C.

Declension

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	ze	zea	zeak
ergative	zek	zeak	zeek
dative	zeri	zeari	zeei
genitive	zeren	zearen	zeen
comitative	zerekin	zearekin	zeekin
causative	zerengatik	zearengatik	zeengatik
benefactive	zerentzat	zearentzat	zeentzat
instrumental	zez	zeaz	zeez
inessive	zetan	zean	zeetan
locative	zetako	zeko	zeetako
allative	zetara	zera	zeetara
terminative	zetaraino	zeraino	zeetaraino
directive	zetarantz	zerantz	zeetarantz
destinative	zetarako	zerako	zeetarako
ablative	zetatik	zetik	zeetatik
partitive	zerik	—	—
prolative	zetzat	—	—

ze - Cimbrian

Pronoun

(Sette Comuni) they
- Synonym: zandare

Inflection

		nominative	accusative	dative
1st person singular		ich	mich	miar
2nd person singular	familiar	du	dich	diar
2nd person singular	polite	iart	ach	òich
3rd person singular	m	èar, ar	in, en	iime
	f	zi, ze		iar
	n	es, is	es, 's	iime
1st person plural		bar, bandare	zich	izàndarn
2nd person plural		iart, iartàndare, artàndare	òich, ach	ogàndarn
3rd person plural		ze, zòi, zandare	zich	innàndarn

Alternative forms

se (Luserna)
zòi

Pronoun

Alternative form of zi (“she”)

ze - Czech

Pronunciation

IPA: [ˈzɛ]

Preposition

ze [+genitive]

from
- Synonym: z

ze - Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA: /zə/
Hyphenation: ze

Pronoun

Unstressed form of zij (feminine singular subject)
- Daar zit ze. ― There she is sitting.
Unstressed form of zij (plural subject)
- Daar zitten ze. ― There they are sitting.
Unstressed form of haar (feminine singular object)
- Ik zie ze. ― I see her.
Unstressed form of hen, hun (plural object)
- Ik zie ze. ― I see them.

Usage notes

In the Netherlands, ze is used as a reduced form of haar chiefly when referring to feminine inanimate things:

- Ik wist de waarheid niet en ik wilde ze ook niet weten.
  - I didn’t know the truth and didn’t wish to know it either.
It is often avoided by using the reduced form h'r or the masculine form hem or the neuter form het or, in formal style, the full form haar.

In Belgium, ze is usual as a reduced form of haar even when referring to persons (as in the example further above).
Ze is used in certain short and idiomatic phrases in the imperative wishing one good luck, the most common by far being werk ze (“good luck at work!”).

Inflection

	subject		object		possessive			reflexive	genitive⁵
singular	full	unstr.	full	unstr.	full	unstr.	pred.
1st person	ik	'k¹	mij	me	mijn	m'n¹	mijne	me	mijner, mijns
2nd person	jij	je	jou	je	jouw	je	jouwe	je	jouwer, jouws
2nd person archaic or regiolectal	gij	ge	u	–	uw	–	uwe	u	uwer, uws
2nd person formal	u	–	u	–	uw	–	uwe	zich	uwer, uws
3rd person masculine	hij	ie¹	hem	'm¹	zijn	z'n¹	zijne	zich	zijner, zijns
3rd person feminine	zij	ze	haar	h'r¹, 'r¹, d'r¹	haar	h'r¹, 'r¹, d'r¹	hare	zich	harer, haars
3rd person neuter	het	't¹	het	't¹	zijn	z'n¹	zijne	zich	zijner, zijns
plural
1st person	wij	we	ons	–	ons, onze²	–	onze	ons	onzer, onzes
2nd person	jullie	je	jullie	je	jullie	je	–	je	–
2nd person archaic or regiolectal⁶	gij	ge	u	–	uw	–	uwe	u	uwer, uws
2nd person formal	u	–	u	–	uw	–	uwe	zich	uwer, uws
3rd person	zij	ze	hen³, hun⁴	ze	hun	–	hunne	zich	hunner, huns
¹⁾ Not as common in written language. ²⁾ Inflected as an adjective. ³⁾ In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). ⁴⁾ In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative).				⁵⁾ Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions. ⁶⁾ To differentiate from the singular gij, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural.

Derived terms

werk ze

Descendants

Javindo: se
Jersey Dutch: zê, sê

ze - Gun

Pronunciation

IPA: /zé/

Verb

zé

to take

ze - Haitian Creole

Noun

ze - Ido

Pronunciation

IPA: /ze/, /zɛ/

Noun

ze (plural ze-i)

The name of the Latin script letter Z/z.

ze - Japanese

Romanization

Rōmaji transcription of ぜ
Rōmaji transcription of ゼ

ze - Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

IPA: /zɛ/

Preposition

Alternative form of z (both meanings; used before sibilants and certain consonant clusters)
- Stej bratš ze sotšu. ― They are brother and sister (lit. ‘brother with sister’).

ze - Luxembourgish

Alternative forms

zu (for the adverb, when stressed)

Pronunciation

IPA: /tse/, [t͡sə]

Preposition

to (with a following infinitive)
- De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
  - The coffee is too hot to drink.

Adverb

too (more than enough, when unstressed)
- De Kaffi ass ze waarm fir ze drénken.
  - The coffee is too hot to drink.

ze - Mandarin

Romanization

Nonstandard spelling of zē.
Nonstandard spelling of zé.
Nonstandard spelling of zè.
Nonstandard spelling of zê̄.

Usage notes

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.

ze - Middle English

Noun

Alternative form of see (“sea”)

Descendants

English: sea

ze - Northern Qiang

Pronunciation

IPA: /tsə/

Noun

water

ze - Polish

Pronunciation

IPA: /zɛ/
Syllabification: ze

Preposition

Alternative form of z.

Particle

(colloquial) Alternative form of z.

Usage notes

See z.

ze - Saterland Frisian

Pronunciation

IPA: /zə/

Pronoun

unstressed form of ju (“she”)
unstressed form of jo (“they”)

ze - Turkish

Noun

ze (definite accusative zeyi, plural zeler)

The name of the Latin-script letter Z.

Noun

Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ز

ze - Turkmen

Noun

ze (definite accusative ?, plural ?)

The name of the Latin-script letter Z.

ze - White Hmong

Pronunciation

IPA: /ʐe˧/

Adjective

near

ze - Xhosa

Relative

-ze^?

naked
- Synonym: -ntswempu

Inflection

Relative concord
	Modifier		Copulative
	positive	negative	positive	negative
1st singular	endize	endingeze	ndize	andize
2nd singular	oze	ongeze	uze	awuze
1st plural	esize	esingeze	size	asize
2nd plural	enize	eningeze	nize	anize
Class 1	oze	ongeze	uze	akaze
Class 2	abaze	abangeze	baze	abaze
Class 3	oze	ongeze	uze	awuze
Class 4	eze	engeze	ize	ayize
Class 5	elize	elingeze	lize	alize
Class 6	aze	angeze	aze	awaze
Class 7	esize	esingeze	size	asize
Class 8	ezize	ezingeze	zize	azize
Class 9	eze	engeze	ize	ayize
Class 10	ezize	ezingeze	zize	azize
Class 11	oluze	olungeze	luze	aluze
Class 14	obuze	obungeze	buze	abuze
Class 15	okuze	okungeze	kuze	akuze
Class 17	okuze	okungeze	kuze	akuze

ze - Yola

Verb

Alternative form of zee (“to see”)

ze - Zazaki

Adverb

same

ze - Zulu

Pronunciation

IPA: /zé/

Relative

-zé

empty
naked

Inflection

Relative concord, tone H
	Modifier		Copulative
	positive	negative	positive	negative
1st singular	engize	engingeze	ngize	angize
2nd singular	oze	ongeze	uze	awuze
1st plural	esize	esingeze	size	asize
2nd plural	enize	eningeze	nize	anize
Class 1	oze	ongeze	uze	akaze
Class 2	abaze	abangeze	baze	abaze
Class 3	oze	ongeze	uze	awuze
Class 4	eze	engeze	ize	ayize
Class 5	elize	elingeze	lize	alize
Class 6	aze	angeze	aze	awaze
Class 7	esize	esingeze	size	asize
Class 8	ezize	ezingeze	zize	azize
Class 9	eze	engeze	ize	ayize
Class 10	ezize	ezingeze	zize	azize
Class 11	oluze	olungeze	luze	aluze
Class 14	obuze	obungeze	buze	abuze
Class 15	okuze	okungeze	kuze	akuze
Class 17	okuze	okungeze	kuze	akuze

Derived terms

ize
ubuze

Pronunciation

IPA: /ze/

Verb

-ze

(auxiliary, in positive) until [+subjunctive]
- Sizolinda baze bafike.
  - We will wait until they arrive.
- Sakhuluma waze wafika uthisha.
  - We talked until the teacher arrived.
(auxiliary, in positive, past) used in exclamations [+subjunctive]
- Waze wamuhle umakoti!
  - Oh how beautiful the bride is!
(auxiliary, in negative, present) never [+potential]
- Angize ngingadla inyama.
  - I never eat meat.
(auxiliary, in negative, past) never [+subjunctive]
- Akazange agibele ihhashi.
  - He has never ridden a horse.

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.