Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to wail
Participle: wailed
Gerund: wailing
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | wail |
| you | wail |
| he;she;it | wails |
| we | wail |
| you | wail |
| they | wail |
Perfect
| I | have wailed |
| you | have wailed |
| he;she;it | has wailed |
| we | have wailed |
| you | have wailed |
| they | have wailed |
Past
| I | wailed |
| you | wailed |
| he;she;it | wailed |
| we | wailed |
| you | wailed |
| they | wailed |
Pluperfect
| I | had wailed |
| you | had wailed |
| he;she;it | had wailed |
| we | had wailed |
| you | had wailed |
| they | had wailed |
Future
| I | will wail |
| you | will wail |
| he;she;it | will wail |
| we | will wail |
| you | will wail |
| they | will wail |
Future Perfect
| I | will have wailed |
| you | will have wailed |
| he;she;it | will have wailed |
| we | will have wailed |
| you | will have wailed |
| they | will have wailed |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | wail |
| you | wail |
| he;she;it | wail |
| we | wail |
| you | wail |
| they | wail |
Perfect
| I | have wailed |
| you | have wailed |
| he;she;it | have wailed |
| we | have wailed |
| you | have wailed |
| they | have wailed |
Imperfect
| I | wailed |
| you | wailed |
| he;she;it | wailed |
| we | wailed |
| you | wailed |
| they | wailed |
Pluperfect
| I | had wailed |
| you | had wailed |
| he;she;it | had wailed |
| we | had wailed |
| you | had wailed |
| they | had wailed |
Conditional
Present
| I | would wail |
| you | would wail |
| he;she;it | would wail |
| we | would wail |
| you | would wail |
| they | would wail |
Perfect
| I | would have wailed |
| you | would have wailed |
| he;she;it | would have wailed |
| we | would have wailed |
| you | would have wailed |
| they | would have wailed |
Imperative
| you | wail |
| we | Let's wail |
| you | wail |
Verbs conjugated like 'wail'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'wail'
ail,
bail,
fail,
hail,
jail,
mail,
nail,
rail,
sail,
tail,
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1330, from O.N. væla "to lament," from væ "woe" (see woe). Of jazz musicians, "to play very well," attested from 1955, Amer.Eng. slang (wailing "excellent" is attested from 1954). The noun is recorded from c.1400.
2. c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy.
3. The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14ᵗʰ c.. The noun came from the verb.
Sample Sentences
-
♪♪ ♪♪ [ Sirens wailing ] [ Tires screeching ] ♪♪ ♪♪
(Motor City)