yes

[yes]

adverb

1. (used to express affirmation or assent or to mark the addition of something emphasizing and amplifying a previous statement).

   Do you want that? Yes, I do.

2. (used to express an emphatic contradiction of a previously negative statement or command).

   Don't do that! Oh, yes I will!

3. (used, usually interrogatively, to express hesitation, uncertainty, curiosity, etc.).

   “Yes?” he said as he opened the door. That was a marvelous show! Yes?

4. (used to express polite or minimal interest or attention.)

noun

plural

yeses 

1. an affirmative reply.

verb (used with object)

yessed, yessing 

1. to give an affirmative reply to; give assent or approval to.

interjection

1. (used as a strong expression of joy, pleasure, or approval.)

yes

/ jɛs /

1. used to express acknowledgment, affirmation, consent, agreement, or approval or to answer when one is addressed

2. used, often with interrogative intonation, to signal someone to speak or keep speaking, enter a room, or do something

noun

1. an answer or vote of yes

2. (often plural) a person who votes in the affirmative

Word History and Origins

Origin of yes¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English yes, yis, Old English gēse (adverb and noun), probably equivalent to gēa yea + sī “be it” (present subjunctive singular of bēon “to be”; be )

Word History and Origins

Origin of yes¹

Old English gēse, from iā sīe may it be; see _yea

Example Sentences

That federal formula is also right for higher education: advocacy and choice, yes; mandates, no.

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Mr. Smith’s prosecutions were unprecedented, a stretch of statutes, force-marched on a political timeline, and, yes, predetermined from the moment he was named special counsel.

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“And then Friday, yes, the plan is to do another dress rehearsal and likely play most of our guys,” Redick said before the game.

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If the court answers yes, the ruling would considerably weaken Voting Rights Act protections that have allowed minorities to challenge electoral systems and maps as discriminatory.

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Something in her said yes — she’d done many difficult things before.

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When To Use

Plural word for yes

The plural form of yes is either yeses or yesses, but yeses is more widely used. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -s are also formed the same way, such as bus/buses/busses, gas/gases/gasses, and lotus/lotuses/lotusses. In some instances, particularly informally, the plural form of yes is written with an apostrophe, as in yes's. This is not considered standard, but it may be easier to understand in some contexts because many people are unfamiliar with the plural form of yes. The word yes is only pluralized when it is used as a noun rather than in its more common use as an adverb. The word yes as a noun means "an answer or vote of yes" or "a person who votes in the affirmative," as in The noes outnumbered the yeses.