willen

See also: Willen

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch willen, from Old Dutch willen, from Proto-West Germanic *willjan, from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną, from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁-. The variant past forms with ou go back to early Middle Dutch wolde(n), following the regular shift old, olt > oud, out.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋɪl.ə(n)/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪlən

Verb

willen

  1. (transitive) to want, desire
    Ik wil een ijsje.I want icecream.
    Wil je dat ik langskom?Do you want me to come by? (literally, “Do you want that I come by?”)
  2. (modal) to want to, will, be willing to
    Hij wil gaan slapen.He wants to go to sleep.
  3. (ellipsis) to want to go somewhere (cf. English want in)
    Ze wilden het huis in.They wanted to get into the house. (literally, “They wanted into the house.”)
  4. (in the past tense or conditional) to wish, would like, would (as in dated English I would that)
    Ik wou dat ik dat kon.I wish I could do that. (literally, “I would that I could that.”)

Inflection

Conjugation of willen (irregular)
infinitive willen
past singular wilde, wou
past participle gewild
infinitive willen
gerund willen n
present tense past tense
1st person singular wilwilde, wou
2nd person sing. (jij) wilt, wilwilde, wou
2nd person sing. (u) wilt, wilwilde, wou
2nd person sing. (gij) wiltwilde, woudt
3rd person singular wilwilde, wou
plural willenwilden, wouden
subjunctive sing.1 willewilde, woude
subjunctive plur.1 willenwilden, wouden
imperative sing. wil
imperative plur.1 wilt
participles willendgewild
1) Archaic.
  • In the second-person singular present both jij wilt and jij wil are considered standard, the latter being more informal.
  • In the third-person singular present only hij wil is standard, but hij wilt may be heard colloquially.
  • In the past tense both wilde(n) and wou(den) are standard, the latter being more informal and perhaps somewhat regional. There is also a difference insofar as the singular wou is significantly more common than the corresponding plural wouden.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: wil
  • Negerhollands: wil, wel
  • Skepi Creole Dutch: wel, well, will

References

German

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Postposition

willen

  1. Only used in um … willen

Further reading

  • willen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • willen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch willen, from Proto-West Germanic *willjan.

Verb

willen

  1. to want, to desire
  2. (auxiliary) to want to
  3. to demand, to order

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Further reading

  • willen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “willen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English willan, wyllan (to want, intend, be willing), from Proto-West Germanic *willjan, from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną (to want).

Alternative forms

Verb

willen (third-person singular simple present wille, present participle willynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle wolde)

  1. to want something, wish for something
  2. to be willing, consent, agree
  3. to intend to do something, plan something
  4. to mean, signify something
  5. to direct, give directions
  6. to require, demand, dictate
  7. to be pleased with, like
  8. (auxiliary) A modal verb with several meanings:
    1. Expresses purpose, intent: will
    2. Expresses willingness: will
    3. Expresses certainty: will
    4. Expresses habitual action: will
    5. Expresses ability, capability: will, can
    6. Expresses futurity: shall, will
    7. Expresses expectation, conjecture: will
    8. Expresses imminence, impendence: will, to be about to
    9. Expresses a suggestion, proposal: let's
    10. Expressing a modest, polite wish: would like
    11. Expresses hypotheticals: might
    12. Expresses possibility, probability: to be likely to, may
Conjugation
Quotations
Descendants

References

Etymology 2

From Old Norse; cognate with Faroese, Icelandic villa (to stray, err).

Verb

willen (third-person singular simple present willeth, present participle willende, willynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle willed)

  1. to go astray, wander, roam

References

Alternative forms

Verb

willen

  1. present indicative/subjunctive plural of willen (to want)

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *willjan, from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną.

Verb

willen

  1. to want, to desire
  2. (auxiliary) to want to
  3. to wish

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Further reading

  • willen”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
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