elles

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See also: êlles and ellēs

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin illās, accusative feminine plural of ille.

Pronoun

elles f pl

  1. they (female)

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illās, accusative feminine plural of ille.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

elles

  1. they (feminine)

See also

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
singular 1st
person 		standard jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd
person 		standard tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd
person 		m ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
f ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
n ho -ho li -li seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd
person 		standard vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd
person 		m ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
f elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi

1 Behaves grammatically as plural.   2 Behaves grammatically as third person.
3 Only as object of a preposition.   4 Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Danish

Noun

elles c

  1. indefinite genitive plural of el

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French eles, from Latin illās, accusative feminine plural of ille.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

elles f pl (third-person plural, singular elle, accusative les, dative leur, emphatic elles, possessive determiner leur)

  1. they (female)
  2. them (female)
French personal pronouns
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.

Noun

elles f

  1. plural of elle

Further reading

Anagrams

Hungarian

Etymology

el- (“away, off”) +‎ les (“to spy, peep, peek”)

Pronunciation

Verb

elles

  1. (transitive) to learn by watching, to acquire by (close and often secret) observation (from someone: -tól/-től)
    • 1862, Imre Madách, The Tragedy of Man, translation by J.C.W. Horne, Iain MacLeod, and George Szirtes, Scene 1:
      Nehány golyóba összevissza gyúrva, / Most vonzza, űzi és taszítja egymást, / Nehány féregben öntudatra kél, / Míg minden megtelt, míg minden kihűlt, / És megmarad a semleges salak. – / Az ember ezt, ha egykor ellesi, / Vegykonyhájában szintén megteszi.
      That a few spheres this way or that revolve, / That one attracts another or repels, / That in a few worms dawns a consciousness, / Till all be fulfilled and till all grow cold / And only indistinguishable dust remain? / Why, man too, almost, if he should but learn, / Might in his kitchen seethe as good a broth
      Meanwhile this matter, kneaded into globes, / unfolds, attracts, repulses, whirls around, / till in some beast a conscious thought is kindled… / Then all fulfilled and all its heat expended, / indifferent, the neutral dust remains. / One day, man may himself acquire the knack / and plagiarize this crude experiment
      Are now screwed up into these tiny globes / That chase, attract or else repel each other, / Awaking a few worms to consciousness / Till all of space is tilled at last, grows cold, / And only the indifferent slag is left? / If man’s at all observant he’ll concoct / Some hash like this with his poor instruments.

Conjugation

conjugation of elles
Click for archaic forms 1st person sg 2nd person sg
informal 		3rd person sg,
2nd p. sg formal 		1st person pl 2nd person pl
informal 		3rd person pl,
2nd p. pl formal


Indica­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. ellesek ellesel elles ellesünk ellestek ellesnek
Def. ellesem ellesed ellesi ellessük ellesitek ellesik
2nd-p. o. elleslek ―
Past Indef. ellestem ellestél ellesett ellestünk ellestetek ellestek
Def. ellestem ellested elleste ellestük ellestétek ellesték
2nd-p. o. ellestelek ―
Future Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. el fog lesni.
Archaic
Preterit 		Indef. ellesék ellesél ellese ellesénk ellesétek ellesének
Def. ellesém elleséd ellesé ellesénk ellesétek ellesék
2nd-p. o. ellesélek ―
Archaic Past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. elles vala, ellesett vala/volt.
Archaic
Future 		Indef. ellesendek ellesendesz ellesend ellesendünk ellesendetek ellesendenek
Def. ellesendem ellesended ellesendi ellesendjük ellesenditek ellesendik
2nd-p. o. ellesendelek ―
Condi­tional
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. ellesnék ellesnél ellesne ellesnénk ellesnétek ellesnének
Def. ellesném ellesnéd ellesné ellesnénk
(or ellesnők) 		ellesnétek ellesnék
2nd-p. o. ellesnélek ―
Past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. ellesett volna
Sub­junc­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. ellessek elless or
ellessél 		ellessen ellessünk ellessetek ellessenek
Def. ellessem ellesd or
ellessed 		ellesse ellessük ellessétek ellessék
2nd-p. o. ellesselek ―
(Archaic) Past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. ellesett légyen
Infinitive ellesni ellesnem ellesned ellesnie ellesnünk ellesnetek ellesniük
Other
forms 		Verbal noun Present part. Past part. Future part. Adverbial participle Causative
ellesés elleső ellesett ellesendő ellesve (ellesvén) elleset
The archaic passive conjugation had the same -(t)at/-(t)et suffix as the causative, followed by -ik in the 3rd-person singular
(and the concomitant changes in conditional and subjunctive mostly in the 1st- and 3rd-person singular like with other traditional -ik verbs).
The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem les el or el is les.
potential conjugation of elles
Click for archaic forms 1st person sg 2nd person sg
informal 		3rd person sg,
2nd p. sg formal 		1st person pl 2nd person pl
informal 		3rd person pl,
2nd p. pl formal
Indica­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. elleshetek elleshetsz elleshet elleshetünk elleshettek elleshetnek
Def. elleshetem ellesheted ellesheti elleshetjük elleshetitek elleshetik
2nd-p. o. elleshetlek ―
Past Indef. elleshettem elleshettél elleshetett elleshettünk elleshettetek elleshettek
Def. elleshettem elleshetted elleshette elleshettük elleshettétek elleshették
2nd-p. o. elleshettelek ―
Archaic
Preterit 		Indef. ellesheték elleshetél elleshete ellesheténk elleshetétek elleshetének
Def. elleshetém elleshetéd ellesheté ellesheténk elleshetétek ellesheték
2nd-p. o. elleshetélek ―
Archaic Past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala, e.g. elleshet vala, elleshetett vala/volt.
Archaic
Future 		Indef. elleshetendek
or ellesandhatok 		elleshetendesz
or ellesandhatsz 		elleshetend
or ellesandhat 		elleshetendünk
or ellesandhatunk 		elleshetendetek
or ellesandhattok 		elleshetendenek
or ellesandhatnak
Def. elleshetendem
or ellesandhatom 		elleshetended
or ellesandhatod 		elleshetendi
or ellesandhatja 		elleshetendjük
or ellesandhatjuk 		elleshetenditek
or ellesandhatjátok 		elleshetendik
or ellesandhatják
2nd-p. o. elleshetendelek
or ellesandhatlak 		―
Condi­tional
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. elleshetnék elleshetnél elleshetne elleshetnénk elleshetnétek elleshetnének
Def. elleshetném elleshetnéd elleshetné elleshetnénk
(or elleshetnők) 		elleshetnétek elleshetnék
2nd-p. o. elleshetnélek ―
Past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. elleshetett volna
Sub­junc­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. elleshessek elleshess or
elleshessél 		elleshessen elleshessünk elleshessetek elleshessenek
Def. elleshessem elleshesd or
elleshessed 		elleshesse elleshessük elleshessétek elleshessék
2nd-p. o. elleshesselek ―
(Archaic) Past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. elleshetett légyen
Inf. (elleshetni) (elleshetnem) (elleshetned) (elleshetnie) (elleshetnünk) (elleshetnetek) (elleshetniük)
Positive adjective elleshető Neg. adj. elleshetetlen Adv. part. (elleshetve / elleshetvén)
The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem leshet el or el is leshet.

Further reading

  • elles in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
  • elles in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Latvian

Noun

elles f

  1. inflection of elle:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative/vocative/accusative plural

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English elles, from Proto-West Germanic *alljas.

Pronunciation

Adjective

elles

  1. else

Adverb

elles

  1. else

Conjunction

elles

  1. else

Descendants

  • English: else
  • Yola: elles

References

Middle French

Pronoun

elles f pl

  1. they (female).
  2. them (female).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From eller (“or”), from Old Norse ella, ellar, from Proto-Germanic *aljaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos.

Pronunciation

Adverb

elles

  1. (conjunctive) else, otherwise
    Det lyt du gjera, elles går dette gale.
    You have to do that, else this will go wrong.

Synonyms

References

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *alljas

Adverb

elles

  1. else
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
      ...ac mē tōdæġ swā wundorlīce is ġelumpen þæt ic þurh nān þincg ne mæġ ġecnāwan hwæðer þys sȳ Ephesa byriġ þe elles ǣniġ ōþer;...
      But to-day it has befallen me so wonderfully that I cannot by any means recognise whether this be the city of the Ephesians or else any other.

References

Portuguese

Pronoun

elles m pl

  1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of eles.

Noun

elles m

  1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of eles.

Spanish

Pronunciation

 
  • IPA(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /ˈeʝes/
  • IPA(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines) /ˈeʎes/
  • IPA(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈeʃes/
  • IPA(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈeʒes/

 

  • Syllabification: e‧lles

Pronoun

elles gender-neutral pl

  1. (gender-neutral, neologism) they; a gender-neutral plural third-person personal pronoun
    • 2019, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Derechos humanos en la Argentina: Informe 2019, Siglo XXI Editores, →ISBN:
      Elles integraron los organismos junto a activistas que si bien no tenían parientes desaparecides se sumaron por trayectorias militantes y profesionales.
      They were part of the organizations along with activists who, although they had no relatives who had disappeared, joined them through militant and professional trajectories.
  2. plural of elle

See also

Spanish personal pronouns
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
  1. Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
  2. 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.
  3. Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
  4. 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)
  5. Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
  6. Used primarily in Spain
  7. Used only in rare circumstances

Noun

elles f pl

  1. plural of elle

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English elles, from Old English elles, from Proto-West Germanic *alljas.

Pronunciation

Adjective

elles

  1. else

References

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 38
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