write – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of write

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to write sb in
Participle: written sb in
Gerund: writing sb in

Cognates

See the 4 cognates of write

Indicative

Present

Iwrite sb in
youwrite sb in
he;she;itwrites sb in
wewrite sb in
youwrite sb in
theywrite sb in

Perfect

Ihave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
he;she;ithas written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
wehave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
theyhave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in

Past

Iwrote sb in
youwrote sb in
he;she;itwrote sb in
wewrote sb in
youwrote sb in
theywrote sb in

Pluperfect

Ihad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
he;she;ithad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
wehad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
theyhad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in

Future

Iwill write sb in
youwill write sb in
he;she;itwill write sb in
wewill write sb in
youwill write sb in
theywill write sb in

Future Perfect

Iwill have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youwill have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
he;she;itwill have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
wewill have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youwill have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
theywill have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in

Subjunctive

Present

Iwrite sb in
youwrite sb in
he;she;itwrite sb in
wewrite sb in
youwrite sb in
theywrite sb in

Perfect

Ihave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
he;she;ithave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
wehave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
theyhave written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in

Imperfect

Iwrote sb in
youwrote sb in
he;she;itwrote sb in
wewrote sb in
youwrote sb in
theywrote sb in

Pluperfect

Ihad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
he;she;ithad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
wehad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youhad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
theyhad written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in

Conditional

Present

Iwould write sb in
youwould write sb in
he;she;itwould write sb in
wewould write sb in
youwould write sb in
theywould write sb in

Perfect

Iwould have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youwould have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
he;she;itwould have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
wewould have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
youwould have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in
theywould have written sb in; wrote sb in; writ sb in

Imperative

youwrite sb in
weLet's write sb in
youwrite sb in

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam writing sb in
youare writing sb in
he;she;itis writing sb in
weare writing sb in
youare writing sb in
theyare writing sb in

Perfect

Ihave been writing sb in
youhave been writing sb in
he;she;ithas been writing sb in
wehave been writing sb in
youhave been writing sb in
theyhave been writing sb in

Past

Iwas writing sb in
youwere writing sb in
he;she;itwas writing sb in
wewere writing sb in
youwere writing sb in
theywere writing sb in

Pluperfect

Ihad been writing sb in
youhad been writing sb in
he;she;ithad been writing sb in
wehad been writing sb in
youhad been writing sb in
theyhad been writing sb in

Future

Iwill be writing sb in
youwill be writing sb in
he;she;itwill be writing sb in
wewill be writing sb in
youwill be writing sb in
theywill be writing sb in

Future Perfect

Iwill have been writing sb in
youwill have been writing sb in
he;she;itwill have been writing sb in
wewill have been writing sb in
youwill have been writing sb in
theywill have been writing sb in

Conditional

Present

Iwould be writing sb in
youwould be writing sb in
he;she;itwould be writing sb in
wewould be writing sb in
youwould be writing sb in
theywould be writing sb in

Perfect

Iwould have been writing sb in
youwould have been writing sb in
he;she;itwould have been writing sb in
wewould have been writing sb in
youwould have been writing sb in
theywould have been writing sb in

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'write'

overwrite, rewrite, smite, typewrite, underwrite, write,

Verbs similar to 'write'

waite, white, wite, writhe, wrote, arise, bite, bribe, bride, brine,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

form letters, words or symbols in order to communicate
scribble
send (a letter) to
post
fill in, complete
sit
to form letters, words or symbols on a surface in order to communicate
handwrite
to compose text
pen
inscribe
engross, scrawl, scribe, sign, print, letter, indite
compose
draft, formulate, record

Antonyms

compose
discompose, disarrange, scatter, disperse

Additional Information

Etymology

1. O.E. writan "to score, outline, draw the figure of," later "to set down in writing" (class I strong verb; past tense wrat, pp. writen), from P.Gmc. *writanan "tear, scratch" (cf. O.Fris. writa "to write," O.S. writan "to tear, scratch, write," O.N. rita "write, scratch, outline," O.H.G. rizan "to write, scratch, tear," Ger. reißen "to tear, pull, tug, sketch, draw, design"), outside connections doubtful. Words for "write" in most I.E languages originally mean "carve, scratch, cut" (cf. L. scribere, Gk. grapho, Skt. rikh-); a few originally meant "paint" (cf. Goth. meljan, O.C.S. pisati, and most of the modern Slavic cognates).
"For men use to write an evill turne in marble stone, but a good turne in the dust." [More, 1513]
To write (something) off (1682) originally was from accounting; fig. sense is recorded from 1889. Write-in "unlisted candidate" is recorded from 1932.
2. From Middle English writen, from Old English wrītan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrītan, from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną (“to carve, write”), from Proto-Indo-European *wrey- (“to rip, tear”).
3. Cognate with West Frisian write (“to wear by rubbing, rip, tear”), Dutch wrijten (“to argue, quarrel”), Middle Low German wrîten (“to scratch, draw, write”) (> Low German wrieten, rieten (“to tear, split”)), German reißen (“to tear, rip”), Norwegian rita (“to rough-sketch, carve, write”), Swedish rita (“to draw, design, delineate, model”), Icelandic ríta, rita (“to inscribe, sketch, write”), German ritzen (“to carve, scratch”), Proto-Slavic *ryti (“to carve, engrave, dig”), Polish ryć (“to engrave, dig”), Czech rýt (“to engrave, dig”). See also rit and rat. See: Middle English 'writen', Proto-Germanic '*wrītaną', Dutch 'wrijten', Low Saxon 'wrieten', German, old spelling 'reißen', Swedish 'rita', Icelandic 'rita', German, old spelling 'ritzen', Proto-Slavic '*ryti', Polish 'ryć', Czech 'rýt'.

Verbs referencing "write"

German, old spelling reißen, Albanian shkruaj, Tok Pisin raitim.

Sample Sentences

  • She was seated in a little enclosure, made by school-desks and forms, writing her daily journal. But soon finishing this pursuit, she engaged in an animated conversation with a teacher who sat beside her. This was a favourite mistress with the poor pupil. If she could see [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • I have extracted a few disjointed fragments of her history, from an account, written by that one man who has made her what she is. It is a very beautiful and touching narrative; and I wish I could present it entire. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • ‘“ But wonderful as is the rapidity with which she writes her thoughts upon the air, still more so is the ease and accuracy with which she reads the words thus written by another; grasping their hands in hers, and following every movement of their [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • ‘“ But wonderful as is the rapidity with which she writes her thoughts upon the air, still more so is the ease and accuracy with which she reads the words thus written by another; grasping their hands in hers, and following every movement of their fingers, as letter after letter conveys their meaning to her mind. It is in this way that she converses with her [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • Such are a few fragments from the simple but most interesting and instructive history of Laura Bridgman. The name of her great benefactor and friend, who writes it, is Dr. Howe. There are not many persons, I hope and believe, who, after reading these passages, can ever hear that name with indifference. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • I turned over the leaves of her Diary, and found it written in a fair legible square hand, and expressed in terms which were quite intelligible without any explanation. On my saying that I should like to see her write again, the teacher who sat beside her, [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] thrice. In doing so, I observed that she kept her left hand always touching, and following up, her right, in which, of course, she held the pen. No line was indicated by any contrivance, but she wrote straight and freely. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] Boston. I was much surprised at first, too, to observe that the counsel who interrogated the witness under examination at the time, did so sitting. But seeing that he was also occupied in writing down the answers, and remembering that he was alone and had no ‘junior, ’ I quickly consoled myself with the reflection that law was not quite so expensive an article here, as at home; and that the [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] the inquiry still further, and found that the Transcendentalists are followers of my friend Mr. Carlyle, or I should rather say, of a follower of his, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson. This gentleman has written a volume of Essays, in which, among much that is dreamy and fanciful (if he will pardon me for saying so ), there is much more that is true and manly, honest and bold. Transcendentalism has its [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] Secondly, nearly all these young ladies subscribe to circulating libraries. Thirdly, they have got up among themselves a periodical called THE LOWELL OFFERING, ‘A repository of original articles, written exclusively by females actively employed in the mills,’—which is duly printed, published, and sold; and whereof I brought away from Lowell four hundred good solid pages, which I have read from [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • You know, Hemingway wrote, " The world breaks everyone, (The Crow)
  • [Claire] Dear friends, fifty years ago, I went to Juliet's house in Verona. I wrote her a letter and I asked her a question. (Letters to Juliet)
  • I thought that's what I wrote in the scratch, all these years. (This Is the Zodiac Speaking)
  • the kid had hit written all over him. (Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties)