le
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/
- Rhymes: -e
Article
le
- (informal, humorous) The.
- 1949, Michael Maltese, For Scent-imental Reasons, spoken by Penelope Pussycat:
- Le mew. Le purr.
- 1996 September 28, Game Freak, Pokémon Blue, Nintendo, level/area: S.S. Anne:
- Waiter: 'Bonjour! I am le waiter on this ship! [...] Ah! Le strong silent type!'
- 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).
- 2012 October 1, Miranda Kenneally, Stealing Parker, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN, page 63:
- That's when Waitress Seductress Extraordinaire comes back and gets our order. […] "We're sharing an order of à la Appalachia, he says, handing over the menus and turning his focus back to me. Le waitress stomps off. I ask, "Why are they called that?" "Because when they've got the fries stacked up they're higher than a mountain range." I groan and touch my stomach. "You're funny," he says, his eyes twinkling.
-
Usage notes
Marks the speaker as pretending to be stereotypically French. For additional jocular effect, may be used where neither English nor French would place a definite article.
Related terms
Preposition
le
Albanian
Etymology
Jussive particle le (“let”) corresponds with 2nd person/singular Aorist form of Albanian lë (“I let/leave (go/behind)”); le (“you let/left (go/behind)”). From Proto-Albanian *laide (“let”).[1] Identical to Baltic permissive and optative particles Latvian lai (“to let”), Lithuanian laĩ, Old Prussian -lai.[2][3][4][5]
Cognate to Albanian lihem (“I am left; allowed”) (Standard & Tosk), Gheg Albanian lêhem, lêna (passive forms of active lë).[6][7]
Verb
le (first-person singular past tense láshë, participle lënë)
Particle
le (+)
- (jussive) let
- Jussive modal particle used before verbs. A gentle way to express orders, instructions or to ask for approval/permission. Jussive construction:
- 1. jussive particle → le (“let”)
- 2. + subjunctive particle → të (“it”)
- 3. + → subjunctive verb form (present, imperfect, perfect or past perfect). See also (*) for irregular verbs.
- Examples: third-person singular present active jussive of marr:
- third-person singular present passive jussive of merrem:
- third-person singular present active jussive of shkoj:
- third-person plural present active jussive of shkoj:
- third-person singular present active jussive of flas:
- third-person plural present active jussive of flas:
- (*) Irregular verb:
- Example: third-person singular present active jussive of jam:
- Jussive modal particle used before verbs. A gentle way to express orders, instructions or to ask for approval/permission. Jussive construction:
- (subjunctive) + që (“that”) → subjunctive: not only that; if only; would that
- Le që... ― Not only that...
- (Gheg, subjunctive) → mostly + se (“that”) instead of që (“id”): not only that; if only; would that
- Le se... ― Not only that...
References
- Orel, Vladimir (1998), “le”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Cologne: Brill, →ISBN, page 215
- Camarda, Demetrio (1864) Saggio di grammatologia comparata sulla lingua albanese (in Italian), Livorno: Successore di Egisto Vignozzi, page 255
- Gjergj Pekmezi (1908), Grammar of the Albanian language, transl., Grammatik der albanesischen Sprache (in german), Albanesicher Verein Dija (Albanian Association Dija), Wien - Austria, page 76-77
- Ernst Fraenkel (1962), Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, transl., Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in german), C. Winter, page 329
- Çabej, Eqrem (1976), “le”, in Studime Gjuhësore II, Studime Etimologjike në Fushë të Shqipes, Prishtinë: Rilindja, page 3120
- Mann, Stuart E. (1977) An Albanian Historical Grammar, Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag, →ISBN, page 137
- Stuart Edward Mann (1932) A Short Albanian Grammar with Vocabularies, and Selected Passages for Reading, D. Nutt (A.G. Berry), pages 34, 40
Further reading
- Oda Buchholz, Wilfried Fiedler, Gerda Uhlisch (2000) Langenscheidt Handwörterbuch Albanisch, Langenscheidt Verlag, →ISBN, page 273 (juss. particle ¹le / ²le (+ që) → subjunc. / verb ³le 2nd p./sg. aor. of lë)
- jussive particle le (engl. let) • Fjalor Shqip (Albanian Dictionary)
- conjugation active verb lë (e kryera e thjeshtë (engl. Aorist): 1st/sg) lashë; (2nd/sg) le; (3rd/sg) la; (1st/pl) lamë; (2nd/pl) latë; (3rd/pl) lanë) • Fjalor Shqip (Albanian Dictionary)
Bourguignon
Alternative forms
Breton
Corsican
Dalmatian
Danish

Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [leˀ]
Etymology 1
From Old Norse lé (“scythe”), from Proto-Germanic *lewô, cognate with Norwegian ljå and Swedish lie.
Inflection
Etymology 2
From Old Norse hlæja, from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną, cognate with English laugh and German lachen.
Verb
le (imperative le, present ler, past lo, past participle leet or let)
- to laugh (show mirth by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face and emission of sounds)
Inflection
See also
le on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia da
Le (flertydig) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia da
Fala
Usage notes
- Takes the form -li when suffixed to an impersonal verb form.
See also
nominative | dative | accusative | disjunctive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first person | singular | ei | me, -mi | mi | ||
plural | common | nos | musL nusLV nos, -nusM |
nos | ||
masculine | noshotrusM | noshotrusM | ||||
feminine | noshotrasM | noshotrasM | ||||
second person | singular | tú | te, -ti | ti | ||
plural | common | vos | vusLV vos, -vusM |
vos | ||
masculine | voshotrusM | voshotrusM | ||||
feminine | voshotrasM | voshotrasM | ||||
third person | singular | masculine | el | le, -li | uLV, oM | el |
feminine | ela | a | ela | |||
plural | masculine | elis | usLV, osM | elis | ||
feminine | elas | as | elas | |||
reflexive | — | se, -si | sí |
French
Etymology
From Middle French le, 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/
- (Parisian) IPA(key): /lø/
- (before a word starting with a vowel) IPA(key): /l‿/
audio (file) - (Louisiana) IPA(key): /ɛl/
- Rhymes: -ə
Article
le m (feminine la, neuter lea, masculine and feminine plural les)
- the (definite article)
- Le lait du matin. ― The milk of the morning.
- Used before abstract nouns; not translated in English.
- L'amour est aveugle.
- (before parts of the body) the; my, your, etc.
- Il s’est cassé la jambe. ― He has broken his leg.
- (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)
- (direct object) him, it
- Où est Malik ? Je ne le vois pas.
- Where is Malik? I don't see him.
- Mon sac ? Je vais le mettre dans la voiture.
- My bag? I'm going to put it in the car.
- 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 (literally, “... and he is it too”)
Related terms
Number | Person | Gender | Nominative (subject) |
Accusative (direct complement) |
Dative (indirect complement) |
Locative (at) |
Genitive (of) |
Disjunctive (tonic) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | First | — | je, j’ | me, m’ | — | — | moi | |
Second | — | tu | te, t’ | — | — | toi | ||
Third | Masculine | il | le, l’ | lui | y | en | lui | |
Feminine | elle | la, l’ | elle | |||||
Indeterminate | on1 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Reflexive | — | se, s’4 | — | — | soi4 | |||
Plural | First | — | nous | nous | — | — | nous | |
Second | — | vous2 | vous2,3 | — | — | vous2 | ||
Third | Masculine | ils3 | les | leur | y | en | eux3 | |
Feminine | elles | elles |
- 1 Also used as the first person plural.
- 2 Also used as the polite singular form.
- 3 Also used when a group has both men and women.
- 4 Also used as third person plural reflexive.
References
- Dauzat, Albert; Jean Dubois, Henri Mitterand (1964), “le, la, les”, in Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique (in French), Paris: Librairie Larousse
Further reading
- “le”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician
Verb
le
- inflection of ler:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈlɛ]
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -lɛ
Usage notes
This term may also be part of the split form of a verb prefixed with le-, occurring when the main verb does not follow the prefix directly. It can be interpreted only with the related verb form, irrespective of its position in the sentence, e.g. meg tudták volna nézni (“they could have seen it”, from megnéz). For verbs with this prefix, see le-; for an overview, Appendix:Hungarian verbal prefixes.
Further reading
- le in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Ido
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/, /lɛ/
Article
le (plural)
- 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.
See also
Interlingua
Irish
Alternative forms
- lé (superseded)
Etymology
From a conflation of two Early Modern Irish prepositions:
- 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”)).
- 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)
- with
- le héadach ― with clothing
- 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.
- 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
- to (after a verb of speaking)
- Níl sé ina lá (Irish traditional song):
- Is é dúirt sí liom “ní bhfaighidh tú deor. / Buail an bóthar is gabh abhaile.”
- And what she said to me was, “you won’t get a drop. / Hit the road and go home.”
- Níl sé ina lá (Irish traditional song):
- in order to
Inflection
Derived terms
See Category:Irish phrasal verbs with particle (le)
See also
Basic form | Contracted with | Copular forms | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
an (“the sg”) | na (“the pl”) | mo (“my”) | do (“your”) | a (“his, her, their; which (present)”) | ár (“our”) | ar (“which (past)”) | (before consonant) | (present/future before vowel) | (past/conditional before vowel) | |
de (“from”) | den | de na desna* | de mo dem* | de do ded*, det* | dá | dár | dar | darb | darbh | |
do (“to, for”) | don | do na dosna* | do mo dom* | do do dod*, dot* | dá | dár | dar | darb | darbh | |
faoi (“under, about”) | faoin | faoi na | faoi mo | faoi do | faoina | faoinár | faoinar | faoinarb | faoinarbh | |
i (“in”) | sa, san | sna | i mo im* | i do id*, it* | ina | inár | inar | inarb | inarbh | |
le (“with”) | leis an | leis na | le mo lem* | le do led*, let* | lena | lenár | lenar | lenarb | lenarbh | |
ó (“from, since”) | ón | ó na ósna* | ó mo óm* | ó do ód*, ót* | óna | ónár | ónar | ónarb | ónarbh | |
trí (“through”) | tríd an | trí na | trí mo | trí do | trína | trínár | trínar | trínarb | trínarbh | |
*Dialectal. |
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “le”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “fri”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “la”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- Entries containing “le” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/
- Rhymes: -e
- Hyphenation: le
Article
Italian Definite Articles | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
masculine | il lo/l' |
i gli |
feminine | la/l' | le |
le f pl (singular la)
Usage notes
Pronoun
le f pl (masculine li, singular la)
- (accusative) them (third-person plural feminine)
- Le ho viste. ― I saw them.
Usage notes
Alternative forms
- -le (enclitic)
See also
Number | Person | Gender | Nominative | Reflexive | Accusative | Dative | Conjunctive | Disjunctive | Locative | Partitive |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | first | — | io | mi, m', -mi | me | me | — | |||
second | — | tu | ti, t', -ti | te | te | |||||
third | m | lui | si2, s', -si | lo, l', -lo | gli, -gli | glie, se2 | lui, sé | ci, c', vi, v' (formal) |
ne, n' | |
f | lei, Lei1 | la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1 | le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1 | lei, Lei1, sé | ||||||
Plural | first | — | noi | ci, c', -ci | ce | noi | — | |||
second | — | voi, Voi4 | vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4 | ve | voi, Voi4 | |||||
third | m | loro, Loro1 | si, s', -si | li, Li1, -li, -Li1 | gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro1 |
glie, se | loro, Loro1, sé | ci, c', vi, v' (formal) |
ne, n' | |
f | le, Le1, -le, -Le1 | |||||||||
1 | Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead. | |||||||||
2 | Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive. | |||||||||
3 | Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language. | |||||||||
4 | Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous). |
Etymology 2
From Vulgar Latin *illae, a nonstandard form of Latin illī (dative singular of illa). The ae in illae is modelled under influence of the dative case for first-declension feminine nouns, e.g. Classical Latin puellae.
Pronoun
le f (plural gli)
Usage notes
- In formal writing, when le is used as term of respect it is usually capitalised/capitalized as Le to avoid confusion with le (“her”).
- In informal contexts often replaced with gli, especially in spoken language.
- Becomes glie when followed by a third person direct object clitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).
- Never elides.
Alternative forms
See also
Number | Person | Gender | Nominative | Reflexive | Accusative | Dative | Conjunctive | Disjunctive | Locative | Partitive |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | first | — | io | mi, m', -mi | me | me | — | |||
second | — | tu | ti, t', -ti | te | te | |||||
third | m | lui | si2, s', -si | lo, l', -lo | gli, -gli | glie, se2 | lui, sé | ci, c', vi, v' (formal) |
ne, n' | |
f | lei, Lei1 | la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1 | le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1 | lei, Lei1, sé | ||||||
Plural | first | — | noi | ci, c', -ci | ce | noi | — | |||
second | — | voi, Voi4 | vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4 | ve | voi, Voi4 | |||||
third | m | loro, Loro1 | si, s', -si | li, Li1, -li, -Li1 | gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro1 |
glie, se | loro, Loro1, sé | ci, c', vi, v' (formal) |
ne, n' | |
f | le, Le1, -le, -Le1 | |||||||||
1 | Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead. | |||||||||
2 | Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive. | |||||||||
3 | Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language. | |||||||||
4 | Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous). |
References
- Patota, Giuseppe (2002) Lineamenti di grammatica storica dell'italiano (in Italian), Bologna: il Mulino, →ISBN, page 127
Maltese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɛː/
Mandarin
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.
Mauritian Creole
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lø, le/
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French le, from Latin illum.
Neapolitan
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/
- Rhymes: -e
Coordinate terms
Number | Person | Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Reflexive | Possessive | Prepositional |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 2
From Old Norse hlæja (“to laugh”), from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *klek-, *kleg- (“to shout”).
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /leː/
Etymology 1
From Old Norse hlæja (“to laugh”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *hlahjaną, from the Proto-Indo-European root *klel-, *kleg- (“to shout”). Akin to English laugh.
Verb
le (present tense ler, past tense lo, supine ledd or lett, past participle ledd, present participle leande, imperative le)
- (intransitive) to laugh
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
References
- “le” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
- Ivar Aasen (1850), “læ”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog, Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000
- Ivar Aasen (1850), “læja”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog, Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000
Old French
Alternative forms
- lo (9th century in The Sequence of Saint Eulalia and 10th century in La Vie de Saint Léger)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lə/
Article
le
- the (masculine singular oblique definite article)
- (Picardy, Anglo-Norman) the (feminine singular definite article)
Inflection
Phalura
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le, ɽe/
Determiner
le (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling لےۡ)
- that, this (agr: dist fem / dist non-nom masc)
References
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le, ɽe/
Determiner
le (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling لےۡ)
- those, these (agr: dist)
References
Etymology 3
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le, ɽe/
Pronoun
le (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling لےۡ)
- that one
- it
- she (dist fem nom)
References
Etymology 4
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le, ɽe/
Pronoun
le (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling لےۡ)
- those ones
- these ones
- they (dist nom)
Pnar
< 2 | 3 | 4 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : le Ordinal : wa le | ||
Etymology
From Proto-Khasian *laːj. Cognate with Khasi lai. Compare Proto-Palaungic *ləʔɔːj (whence Blang [La Gang] lɔ́j) and Car Nicobarese lōe.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/
- Rhymes: -e
Pronoun
le m (unstressed dative form of ei)
- (indirect object, third-person masculine plural) to them (all-male or mixed group)
Pronoun
le f (unstressed dative form of ele)
- (indirect object, third-person feminine plural) to them (all-female group)
Samoan
Usage notes
Only in the singular. Sometimes used where the indefinite article would be used in English.
Scottish Gaelic
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/
- Hyphenation: le
Preposition
le (+ dative)
Usage notes
Serbo-Croatian
Adverb
le (Cyrillic spelling ле)
- (archaic) only
- 1556, Hanibal Lucić, U vrime ko čisto
- Nego se varteći dugo tuj zamani,
- Goro, le htih reći, zbogome ostani.
- 1556, Hanibal Lucić, U vrime ko čisto
Slovene
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɛ́/
Southern Ndebele
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /le/ [le]
Audio (Colombia) (file) - Rhymes: -e
- Syllabification: le
Pronoun
le
- to him, for him; dative of él
- Mi mamá va a escribirle una carta.
- My mom is going to write him a letter.
- to her, for her; dative of ella
- Le dio un beso a Ana.
- He gave Ana a kiss.
- to it, for it; dative of ello
- ¡Ponle esfuerzo!
- Put some effort into it!
- to you, for you (formal); dative of usted
- ¿A usted le gustan los caballos?
- Do you like horses?
- (gender-neutral, neologism) to them, for them (singular); dative of elle
- Le diré que te llame.
- I will tell them to call you.
Usage notes
- Though le is usually the indirect object form of the direct object pronouns lo/la, it is often used in Spain 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 will give him 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
nominative | dative | accusative | disjunctive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first person | singular | yo | me | mí1 | |||
plural | masculine2 | nosotros | nos | nosotros | |||
feminine | nosotras | nosotras | |||||
second person | singular | tuteo | tú | te | ti1 | ||
voseo | vos | vos | |||||
formal3 | usted | le, se4 | lo/la5 | usted | |||
plural | familiar6 | masculine2 | vosotros | os | vosotros | ||
feminine | vosotras | vosotras | |||||
formal/general3 | ustedes | les, se4 | los/las5 | ustedes | |||
third person | singular | masculine2 | él | le, se4 | lo | él | |
feminine | ella | la | ella | ||||
neuter | ello7 | lo | ello | ||||
plural | masculine2 | ellos | les, se4 | los | ellos | ||
feminine | ellas | las | ellas | ||||
reflexive | — | se | sí1 |
- Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
- Like other masculine Spanish words, masculine Spanish pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
- Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
- If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g., Se lo dije instead of Le lo dije)
- Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
- Used primarily in Spain
- Used only in rare circumstances
Further reading
- “le”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swahili
Pronunciation
Audio (Kenya) (file)
Inflection
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
Conjugation
Active | Passive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitive | le | les | ||
Supine | lett | letts | ||
Imperative | le | — | ||
Imper. plural1 | len | — | ||
Present | Past | Present | Past | |
Indicative | ler | log | les | logs |
Ind. plural1 | le | logo | les | logos |
Subjunctive2 | le | loge | les | loges |
Participles | ||||
Present participle | leende | |||
Past participle | — | |||
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs. |
Derived terms
Related terms
Turkish
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [lɛ˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [lɛ˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [lɛ˧˧]
Noun
(classifier cây) le
Xhosa
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [lé]
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [lé]
Yoruba
Verb
lè
Verb
le
Derived terms
Derived terms
- Alébíoṣù (“A Yoruba nickname meaning, "One that appears very distinctly like the moon."”)}}
- léfòó
Usage notes
When a word is homophonous with the verb 'lé'; it always occurs in a non-V1 position.
Derived terms
- gbẹ́kẹ̀lé (“to trust”)
Verb
lé
Derived terms
Zulu
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlé/
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
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
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
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
- C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “le”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “le (2)”