Meaning

3 senses
  1. (ditransitive)To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.

    We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.

    I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.

    schulden, schuldig sein

    быть до́лжнымbytʹ dólžnym, быть обя́заннымbytʹ objázannym, быть в долгу́bytʹ v dolgú

    ви́ненvýnen, ви́ннаvýnna, ви́нніvýnni

  2. (intransitive)To have debt; to be in debt.

    schulden, schuldig sein

    до́лженdólžen, должна́dolžná, должны́dolžný

    be in debt

  3. (transitive)To have as a cause; used with to.

    The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.

Examples

958 sentences
  1. How much do I owe you?

    Скільки я вам винен? — deniko

    ruСколько я Вам должен? — marafon

    deWie viel schulde ich Ihnen? — MUIRIEL

  2. I owe ten dollars to her.

    Я їй винен десять доларів. — deniko

    ruЯ должен ей десять долларов. — marafon

    deIch schulde ihr 10 Dollar. — MUIRIEL

  3. I forgot I owed you money.

    Я забув, що винен тобі гроші. — deniko

    ruЯ забыл, что должен тебе денег. — marafon

    deIch habe vergessen, dass ich dir Geld schulde. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

  4. I know I owe you money.

    Я знаю, що я тобі винен гроші. — deniko

    ruЯ знаю, что должен тебе денег. — marafon

    deIch weiß, dass ich dir Geld schulde. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

  5. I owe a lot of money.

    Я винен багато грошей. — deniko

    ruЯ должен много денег. — marafon

    deIch habe eine Menge Schulden. — Yorwba

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
to be under an obligation:
Русский
By meaning 2
to be under an obligation:
to be in debt:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to be under an obligation:

Origin

From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”

From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

owes, owing, owed, owed
Base formowe · to owe
3rd person singularowes
Present participleowing
Past simpleowed
Past participleowed

regular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyowe
he, she, itowes

Past simpleLesson

all personsowed

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave owed
he, she, ithas owed

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill owe

Word family

2 related words

Collocations

4 patterns
  • still owe
  • owe my success
  • owe a lot
  • owe money

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
owe — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto