write – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of write

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to write down sth
Participle: written down sth
Gerund: writing down sth

Cognates

See the 4 cognates of write

Indicative

Present

Iwrite down sth
youwrite down sth
he;she;itwrites down sth
wewrite down sth
youwrite down sth
theywrite down sth

Perfect

Ihave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
he;she;ithas written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
wehave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
theyhave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth

Past

Iwrote down sth
youwrote down sth
he;she;itwrote down sth
wewrote down sth
youwrote down sth
theywrote down sth

Pluperfect

Ihad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
he;she;ithad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
wehad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
theyhad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth

Future

Iwill write down sth
youwill write down sth
he;she;itwill write down sth
wewill write down sth
youwill write down sth
theywill write down sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youwill have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
he;she;itwill have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
wewill have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youwill have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
theywill have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth

Subjunctive

Present

Iwrite down sth
youwrite down sth
he;she;itwrite down sth
wewrite down sth
youwrite down sth
theywrite down sth

Perfect

Ihave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
he;she;ithave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
wehave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
theyhave written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth

Imperfect

Iwrote down sth
youwrote down sth
he;she;itwrote down sth
wewrote down sth
youwrote down sth
theywrote down sth

Pluperfect

Ihad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
he;she;ithad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
wehad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youhad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
theyhad written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould write down sth
youwould write down sth
he;she;itwould write down sth
wewould write down sth
youwould write down sth
theywould write down sth

Perfect

Iwould have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youwould have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
he;she;itwould have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
wewould have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
youwould have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth
theywould have written down sth; wrote down sth; writ down sth

Imperative

youwrite down sth
weLet's write down sth
youwrite down sth

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam writing down sth
youare writing down sth
he;she;itis writing down sth
weare writing down sth
youare writing down sth
theyare writing down sth

Perfect

Ihave been writing down sth
youhave been writing down sth
he;she;ithas been writing down sth
wehave been writing down sth
youhave been writing down sth
theyhave been writing down sth

Past

Iwas writing down sth
youwere writing down sth
he;she;itwas writing down sth
wewere writing down sth
youwere writing down sth
theywere writing down sth

Pluperfect

Ihad been writing down sth
youhad been writing down sth
he;she;ithad been writing down sth
wehad been writing down sth
youhad been writing down sth
theyhad been writing down sth

Future

Iwill be writing down sth
youwill be writing down sth
he;she;itwill be writing down sth
wewill be writing down sth
youwill be writing down sth
theywill be writing down sth

Future Perfect

Iwill have been writing down sth
youwill have been writing down sth
he;she;itwill have been writing down sth
wewill have been writing down sth
youwill have been writing down sth
theywill have been writing down sth

Conditional

Present

Iwould be writing down sth
youwould be writing down sth
he;she;itwould be writing down sth
wewould be writing down sth
youwould be writing down sth
theywould be writing down sth

Perfect

Iwould have been writing down sth
youwould have been writing down sth
he;she;itwould have been writing down sth
wewould have been writing down sth
youwould have been writing down sth
theywould have been writing down sth

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)