OWES

Owes is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb owe. The core meaning is that someone is obligated to give or repay something to someone else, or to perform a duty. While money is a common object of owing, the sense extends to services, explanations, apologies, gratitude, or other obligations. The related participle forms are owing (present participle) and owed (past tense and past participle).

In usage, owe typically requires a recipient of the obligation. Examples: I owe you money; she owes his sister a favor. Owing to a debt or obligation can be expressed with various objects, and idiomatic expressions such as “owe it to someone to…” or “owe someone an apology” are common in everyday language. Note that “owing to” is a fixed prepositional phrase meaning “because of” and is not a verb form.

Etymology reflects long-standing notions of obligation and debt. The word has roots in the history of English and its Germanic predecessors, evolving from a sense of being bound to repay or fulfill a duty. Over time, owe has become a versatile term used in financial, legal, and social contexts.

In finance and accounting, amounts owed are liabilities on balance sheets and may be described as debts, payables, or arrears when overdue. In everyday speech, owe often accompanies personal obligations—owing someone a favor, a favor now owed, or the obligation to provide an explanation or apology.