le

See also: Appendix:Variations of "le"

English

Etymology

From French le.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lə/, /leɪ/

Article

le

  1. (informal, humorous, chiefly Internet) the
    • 2001 June 24, LaManna, “My Weekend...”, in alt.punk, Usenet‎:
      […] upon arrival, le girlfriend realizes she has left her ID back at my house (a 1 1/2 hour roundtrip on the Metro), […]
    • 2002 December 27, Amelia, “Re: Neat things SANTA brought me...”, in alt.fashion, Usenet‎:
      And then le boyfriend perks up and names around 8 different brands (Stila, MAC, Becca, Nars etc..) - I was *SO* proud of him!! :)
    • 2003 January 10, johnny dupe (quoting nowhere man), “Re: I can walk with jezus...”, in alt.fan.wings, Usenet‎:
      That was always OUR song (me and le girlfriend of the time).

Anagrams

Breton

Noun

le ? (plural leou)

  1. vow

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin illae, nominative feminine plural of ille.

Article

le f pl

  1. the

Danish

En le – a scythe.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leː/, [leːˀ]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse lé (“scythe”).

Noun

le c (singular definite leen, plural indefinite leer)

  1. scythe (farm tool)
Inflection

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hlæja, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną.

Verb

le (imperative le, present ler, past lo, past participle leet or let)

  1. to laugh (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face and emission of sounds)

See also

French

Etymology

From Old French le, from Latin illum, by dropping il- and -m. Latin illum is the accusative singular of ille.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lə/
  • (between a vowel and a consonant) IPA(key): /l/
  • audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -ə

Article

le m (feminine la, masculine and feminine plural les)

  1. The (definite article).
    Le lait du matin. ― The milk of the morning.
    [J]e suis le valeureux Don Quichotte de la Manche, le défaiseur de torts et le réparateur d’iniquités.
    I am the valiant Don Quixote of La Mancha, the undoer of wrongs and the repairer of iniquities. (1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Volume I, Chapter IV)
  2. Used before abstract nouns; not translated in English.
  3. (before parts of the body) The; my, your, etc.
    Il s’est cassé la jambe. ― He has broken his leg.
  4. (before units) A, an.
    Cinquante kilomètres à l’heure. ― fifty kilometres an hour

Usage notes

  • le becomes l’ before a vowel or an unaspirated h.
    l’amour ― love
    l’homme ― the man
  • de le is never used: contracted into du.
  • à le is never used: contracted into au.
    Il a une cicatrice au visage. ― He has a scar on the face. / He has a scar on his face.
  • However, de le and à le become de l' and à l' respectively in front of a vowel or an unaspirated h.

Pronoun

le m (feminine la, masculine and feminine plural les)

  1. (direct object) Him, it.
  2. (used to refer to something previously mentioned or implied; not translated in English).
    Je suis petit et lui, il l’est aussi. ― I am small and he is too ("he is it too", i.e., "he is small too").

References

  1. ↑ Dauzat, Albert; Jean Dubois, Henri Mitterand (1964), “le, la, les”, in Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique (in French), Paris: Librairie Larousse

Further reading

Friulian

Pronoun

le (third person feminine direct object)

  1. her

Galician

Verb

le

  1. inflection of ler:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Garifuna

Article

le

  1. masculine definite article
    Mutu le ― The man

Antonyms

Hungarian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛ]
  • Audio(file)

Adverb

le (not comparable)

  1. down

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian le.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /le/, /lɛ/

Article

le (plural)

  1. the (used only when there is no other sign of plurality, for example with nominalized adjectives)
    Yen pomi, prenez le bona e lasez le mala.
    Here's apples, take the good ones and leave the bad ones.

Noun

le (plural le-i)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.

See also

See also

Interlingua

Article

le

  1. the

Usage notes

  • de le is contracted into del.
  • a le is contracted into al.

Pronoun

le m (plural les)

  1. him (direct object)
    Io le appella mi amico — I call him my friend.

Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From a conflation of two Early Modern Irish prepositions:

  1. re (“to”), from Old Irish fri, from Proto-Celtic *writ- (compare Welsh wrth, prefix gwrth-), from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”) (compare Latin versus (“against”)).
  2. le (“with”), from Old Irish la, from Proto-Celtic *let-, from Proto-Celtic *letos (“side”) (compare leath, Welsh lled).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lʲɛ/

Preposition

le (plus dative, triggers h-prothesis, before the definite article leis)

  1. with
    le héadach ― with clothing
  2. used in conjunction with the copula particle is to indicate possession
    Is liomsa an hata ― The hat is mine; the hat belongs to me
    Is le Cáit an peann luaidhe. ― The pencil is Cáit’s; the pencil belongs to Cáit.
  3. to (indicating purpose; in this sense triggering eclipsis of ithe (“eating”) and ól (“drinking”))
    rud le n-ithe ― something to eat
    oiriúnach le n-ól ― fit to drink
    ró-the le n-ól ― too hot to drink
  4. in order to
    le rud a dhéanamh ― in order to do a thing
    Synonyms: chun, d'fhonn

Inflection

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

  • "le" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
  • “fri” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • “la” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • Entries containing “le” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /le/
  • Rhymes: -e

Etymology 1

From Latin illae, which is the nominative plural feminine of ille.[1]

Article

Italian Definite Articles
singular plural
masculine il
lo/l'		 i
gli
feminine  la/l' le

le f pl (singular la)

  1. the
Usage notes

Contrary to la, le does not elide before words that begin with a vowel:

le amiche ― the girlfriends

Pronoun

le f pl (masculine li, singular la)

  1. (accusative) them (third-person plural feminine)
    Le ho viste. ― I saw them.
Usage notes
  • Never elides.
  • Becomes glie when followed by a third person direct object clitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).
See also

Etymology 2

Pronoun

le f (plural gli)

  1. (dative) her, to her
    Le ho detto che la amo. ― I told her that I love her.
    Le ho dato la lettera. ― I gave her the letter.
  2. (dative) you, to you (term of respect)
    Non le ho detto il mio nome. ― I didn't tell you my name.
    Le ho dato la lettera. ― I gave you the letter.
Usage notes
  • In formal writing, when le is used as term of respect it is usually capitalised as Le to avoid confusion with le (“her”).
  • In spoken language often replaced with gli.
  • Becomes glie when followed by a third person direct object clitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).
  • Never elides.
Alternative forms
See also
Italian personal pronouns
Number Person Gender Nominative Reflexive Accusative Dative Locative Genitive Disjunctive
Singularfirst— iomi, m' — me
second— tuti, t' te
thirdm luisi,2 s'lo, l'gli ci, c',
vi, v' (formal)		 ne, n'lui, sé
f 1 lei, Leila, l', Lale,3 Le lei, Lei, sé
Pluralfirst— noici, c' — noi
second— voivi, v' voi
thirdm loro, Lorosi, s'ligli, loro (formal),
Loro		 ci, c',
vi, v' (formal)		 ne, n'loro, Loro, sé
f 1 le
1The feminine gender forms are also used as formal terms of address, often capitalised as Lei, Loro etc. to distinguish them.
2Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
3In informal speech sometimes replaced with gli (nonstandard).

References

  1. ↑ Patota, Giuseppe (2002) Lineamenti di grammatica storica dell'italiano (in Italian), Bologna: il Mulino, →ISBN, page 127

Maltese

Etymology

Cognate with Arabic لا‎ and Hebrew לא‎

Adverb

le

  1. no

See also

Mandarin

Romanization

le (Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄜ)

  1. Pinyin transcription of 了
  2. Pinyin transcription of 餎, 饹

le

  1. Nonstandard spelling of lē.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of lè.

Usage notes

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Meriam

Etymology

From Rotuman.

Noun

le

  1. person

Middle French

Article

le m (feminine la, masculine and feminine plural les)

  1. the

Descendants

  • French: le

Neapolitan

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /le/
  • Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

le

  1. Alternative form of 'e

Coordinate terms

NumberPersonNominativeAccusativeDativeReflexivePossessivePrepositional
singular first-person io (i') me mìo, mìa, mieje, meje me, méne
second-person, familiar tu te tùjo, tòja, tùoje, tòje te, téne
second-person, formal vuje ve vuósto, vósta, vuóste, vóste vuje
third-person, masculine ìsso 'o, 'u (lo, lu) 'i, 'e (li, le) se sùjo, sòja, sùoje, sòje ìsso
third-person, feminine éssa 'a (la) 'e (le) éssa
plural first-person nuje ce nuósto, nòsta, nuóste, nòste nuje
second-person, plural vuje ve vuósto, vòsta, vuóste, vòste vuje
third-person, masculine ìsse 'i, 'e (li, le) llòro se llòro (invariable) llòro
third-person, feminine llòro 'e (le)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hlé

Adjective

  • le (indeclinable)
  1. lee or leeward (side)

Noun

le n

  1. lee (sheltered or leeward side)
  2. shelter

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hlæja (“to laugh”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”).

Verb

le (imperative le, present tense ler, passive -, simple past lo, past participle ledd, present participle leende)

  1. to laugh

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leː/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hlé. Akin to English lee.

Adjective

  • le (indeclinable)
  1. lee or leeward (side)

Noun

le n

  1. lee (sheltered or leeward side)
  2. shelter

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hlæja (“to laugh”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”). Akin to English laugh.

Verb

le (present tense ler, past tense lo, past participle ledd or lett, present participle leande, imperative le)

  1. to laugh

References

Novial

Pronoun

le

  1. (s)he; him or her

Old French

Alternative forms

  • lo (9th century in The Sequence of Saint Eulalia and 10th century in La Vie de Saint Léger)

Article

le

  1. the (masculine singular oblique definite article)
  2. (Picardy, Anglo-Norman) the (feminine singular definite article)

Inflection

Pronoun

le

  1. it (masculine singular object pronoun)

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin illīs, dative common plural of ille.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

le m (unstressed dative form of ei)

  1. (indirect object, third-person masculine plural) to them (all-male or mixed group)

Pronoun

le f (unstressed dative form of ele)

  1. (indirect object, third-person feminine plural) to them (all-female group)

Pronoun

le m (unstressed accusative form of ele)

  1. (direct object, third-person feminine plural) them (all-female group)
  • lor (stressed dative of ei and ele)
  • ele (stressed accusative of ele)
  • îl (unstressed dative of el (singular))
  • îi (unstressed dative of ea (singular) and unstressed accusative of ei (masculine))
  • o (unstressed accusative of ea (singular))

Samoan

Article

le

  1. the (the definite article)

Usage notes

Only in the singular. Sometimes used where the indefinite article would be used in English.

See also

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lʲɛ/, /le/

Preposition

le

  1. with
  2. by
  3. down
    thuit e leis a' chreig - he fell down the rock
    deòir a' ruith leis a h-aodann - tears running down her face

Usage notes

  • This form is used before nouns without the definite article; before the definite article the form leis is used.

Derived terms

Person Number Prepositional pronoun Prepositional pronoun (emphatic)
Singular 1st leam leamsa
2nd leat leatsa
3rd m leis leis-san
3rd f leatha leathase
Plural 1st leinn leinne
2nd leibh leibhse
3rd leotha leothasan

Serbo-Croatian

Adverb

le (Cyrillic spelling ле)

  1. (archaic) only
    • 1556, Hanibal Lucić, U vrime ko čisto
      Nego se varteći dugo tuj zamani,
      Goro, le htih reći, zbogome ostani.

Slovene

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈlɛ́/
  • Tonal orthography: lȅ

Adverb

lè

  1. only, merely, just

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin illī, dative of ille.

Pronoun

le

  1. To him, for him (dative of él)
    Mi mamá va a escribirle una carta a mi hermano. — My mom is going to write a letter to my brother.
  2. To her, for her (dative of ella)
    Le dio un beso a Ana. — He gave Ana a kiss.
  3. To it, for it (dative of ello)
    ¡Ponle esfuerzo! — Put some effort into it!
  4. To you, for you (formal; dative of usted)
    ¿A usted le gustan los caballos? — Do you like horses?

Usage notes

  • Though le is usually the indirect object form of the direct object pronouns lo/la, it is often used as a direct object as well...e.g., «yo le amo» (I love him). This phenomenon is known as leísmo.
  • Note that when a sentence contains a noun that is an indirect object, a redundant indirect object le (or its plural form les) is also required; for example «yo le daré el libro a Jorge» (literally, "I him will give the book to Jorge"), where him/le corresponds to Jorge. This type of pronoun is obligatory. Both of the object pronouns le and les become se when followed by the direct object lo/la/los/las; hence, «yo se lo daré» (I will give it to him/her/them) rather than «yo le/les lo daré».

See also

Swahili

Adjective

-le (declinable)

  1. that (distal demonstrative adjective)

Inflection

See also

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish lēia, lea, from Old Norse hlæja (“to laugh”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /leː/
  • audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -eː

Verb

le

  1. to smile
  2. (obsolete) to laugh

Conjugation

Derived terms

Tarantino

Alternative forms

Article

le m pl, f pl

  1. the

Turkish

Noun

le

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter L/l.

See also

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

(classifier cây) le

  1. a plant in the rice family, which grows in forests and has a shape similar to bamboo

Etymology 2

Verb

le

  1. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) Alternative form of lè (“to loll (tongue); to put out”)

Etymology 3

Adverb

le

  1. (rare) Alternative form of lè (“very”)

Etymology 4

Conjunction

le

  1. (archaic) but; however
Derived terms

Welsh

Noun

le

  1. Soft mutation of lle.

Xhosa

Etymology 1

Pronoun

le

  1. these; class 4 proximal demonstrative.

Etymology 2

Pronoun

le

  1. this; class 9 proximal demonstrative.

Zulu

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lé/

Etymology 1

Pronoun

le

  1. these; class 4 proximal demonstrative.
Inflection
Stem -lé
Full form lé
Locative kule
Full form lé
Locative kule
Copulative yile
Possessive forms
Modifier Substantive
Class 1 wale owale
Class 2 bale abale
Class 3 wale owale
Class 4 yale eyale
Class 5 lale elale
Class 6 ale awale
Class 7 sale esale
Class 8 zale ezale
Class 9 yale eyale
Class 10 zale ezale
Class 11 lwale olwale
Class 14 bale obale
Class 15 kwale okwale
Class 17 kwale okwale

Etymology 2

Pronoun

le

  1. this; class 9 proximal demonstrative.
Inflection
Stem -lé
Full form lé
Locative kule
Full form lé
Locative kule
Copulative yile
Possessive forms
Modifier Substantive
Class 1 wale owale
Class 2 bale abale
Class 3 wale owale
Class 4 yale eyale
Class 5 lale elale
Class 6 ale awale
Class 7 sale esale
Class 8 zale ezale
Class 9 yale eyale
Class 10 zale ezale
Class 11 lwale olwale
Class 14 bale obale
Class 15 kwale okwale
Class 17 kwale okwale

References

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