l'
Asturian
Etymology 1
Contraction of the masculine article el.
Usage notes
- The masculine singular article el contracts to l' before a word beginning with a vowel or h: l'asturianu (the Asturian), l'hermanu (the brother)
Etymology 2
Contraction of the feminine article la.
Usage notes
- The feminine singular article la contracts to l' before a word beginning with a or ha: l'asturiana (the Asturian), l'habitación (the habitation)
Related terms
Catalan
Usage notes
Usage notes
Declension
Corsican
Article
l'
Pronoun
l'
See also
References
Esperanto
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l/
Usage notes
It is used mainly in poetry and lyrics as a tool for enforcing a specific meter or rhythm, although it may at times be used in prose for a poetic stylistic effect.
A space is used after l' (e.g. "de l' mondo", not "de l'mondo"). It is most common after prepositions ending in a vowel, de l' (“of the”) being most common by far.
When possible it is pronounced at the end of the proceeding syllable rather than at the start of the following syllable (e.g. de l' animo (“of the soul”) is pronounced /del aˈni.mo/ rather than /de laˈni.mo/).
Frequent or consistent use of l' can be found as a feature of the ideolects of some people, but this is considered non-standard, and is discouraged by the majority of fluent speakers.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l‿/
Audio (file)
Article
l’ m or f (singular, definite)
- (before a vowel) Apocopic form of le, la: the
- (Quebec, colloquial, after a vowel) Apocopic form of le: the
- 2002, Jean-François Pauzé (lyrics and music), “La Manifestation”, in Break Syndical:
- À la manifestation, / on rêvait d’révolution / se gelant l’cul avec une poignée de comparses / sous la pluie froide du mois d’mars
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Pronoun
l’ m or f (third-person singular)
- (before a vowel) Apocopic form of le, la: him, her, it
- (Quebec, colloquial, after a vowel) Apocopic form of le: him, it
- 2002, Jean-François Pauzé, Marie-Annick Lépine (lyrics and music), “Toune d'automne”, in Break Syndical:
- Icitte y’a papa qui se r’met / fe sa p’tite opération / t’aurais du l’voir, y fakait / fallait l’traiter aux p’tits oignons
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Related terms
Number | Person | Gender | Nominative (subject) |
Accusative (direct complement) |
Dative (indirect complement) |
Disjunctive (tonic) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | First | — | je, j’ | me, m’ | moi | |
Second | — | tu | te, t’ | toi | ||
Third | Masculine | il | le, l’ | lui | lui | |
Feminine | elle | la, l’ | elle | |||
Gender neutral5 | iel | lea | ellui | |||
Indeterminate | on1 | — | — | — | ||
Reflexive | — | se, s’4 | soi4 | |||
Plural | First | — | nous | nous | nous | |
Second | — | vous2 | vous2,3 | vous2 | ||
Third | Masculine | ils3 | les | leur | eux | |
Feminine | elles | elles | ||||
Gender neutral5 | iels | elleux |
- 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.
- 5 Colloquial, and not in popular use.
Further reading
- “l'”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Haitian Creole
Italian
Italian Definite Articles | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
masculine | il lo/l' |
i gli |
feminine | la/l' | le |
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l/
Usage notes
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). |
Leonese
Etymology 1
Contraction of the masculine article el.
Usage notes
- The masculine singular article el contracts to l' before a word beginning with a vowel or h.
Etymology 2
Contraction of the feminine article la.
Usage notes
- The feminine singular article la contracts to l' before a word beginning with a or ha.
Ligurian
Middle French
Usage notes
- Earlier manuscripts omit the apostrophe
- lame ― the soul
Neapolitan
Old French
Usage notes
- Original manuscripts omit the apostrophe
- lame ― the soul
Sassarese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l‿/, (after a word ending in a vowel) /r‿/
Usage notes
- Used before a vowel sound.