l'
Asturian
Etymology 1
Contraction of the masculine article el.
Article
l' m
- (definite) the
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)
Related terms
Etymology 2
Contraction of the feminine article la.
Article
l' f
- (definite) the
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
Pronunciation
Article
l' m or f
Usage notes
- el is contracted to l' before a vowel or h-.
- l'avi ― the grandfather
- la is contracted to l' before a vowel or h-, except before a following unstressed (h)i- or (h)u-.
- l'àvia ― the grandmother
- l'hora ― the hour
- l'única filla (stressed ⟨u⟩) ― the only daughter
- la ullada (unstressed ⟨u⟩) ― the glance
Pronoun
l'
Usage notes
- l' is the elided (elida) form of the pronoun. It is used before verbs beginning with a vowel. The exceptions regarding the contraction of la mentioned above apply as well.
- L'envejo. ― I envy him/her.
- La interessa. (unstressed ⟨i⟩) ― It interests her.
Declension
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-.
Corsican
Article
l'
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of u, lu: the
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of a, la: the
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of i, li: the
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of e, le: the
Pronoun
l'
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of u, lu: him
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of a, la: her
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of i, li: them
- (before a vowel) apocopic form of e, le: them
See also
nominative | dative | accusative | disjunctive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st person | eiu | mi | mè | ||
2nd person | tù | ti | tè | |||
3rd person | m | ellu | li | u, l' | ellu | |
f | ella | a, l' | ella | |||
plural | 1st person | noi | ci | noi | ||
2nd person | voi | vi | voi | |||
3rd person | m | elli | li | i, l' | elli | |
f | elle | e, l' | elle |
References
Esperanto
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l/
Article
l' (definite)
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 idiolects of some people, but this is considered non-standard, and is discouraged by the majority of fluent speakers.
Derived terms
Franco-Provençal
Determiner
l' m or f
Pronoun
l' m or f
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l‿/
Audio: (file)
Article
l' m or f (singular, definite)
- (before a vowel or mute h) apocopic form of le, la: the
- (Quebec, Louisiana, colloquial, after a vowel) apocopic form of le: the
- 2002, Jean-François Pauzé, “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
- At the demonstration, / we dreamed o' revolution / freezing da asses off with a handful of cronies / in the cold rain of March
Pronoun
l' m or f (third-person singular)
- (before a vowel or mute h) apocopic form of le, la: him, her, it
- (Quebec, Louisiana, colloquial, after a vowel) apocopic form of le: him, it
- 2002, Jean-François Pauzé, Marie-Annick Lépine, “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
- Here's Dad recoverin' / doin' his lil operation / you shoulda seen him, he was doin' it / you hadda treat him like a pro
Related terms
number | person | gender | nominative (subject) |
accusative (direct complement) |
dative (indirect complement) |
locative (at) |
genitive (of) |
disjunctive (tonic)1 |
emphatic reflexive |
relative | proximal | distal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | first | — | je, j’ | me, m’ | — | — | moi | moi-même | — | |||
second | — | tu | te, t’ | — | — | toi | toi-même | — | ||||
third | masculine | il2 | le, l’ | lui | y | en | lui | lui-même | celui | celui-ci | celui-là | |
feminine | elle | la, l’ | elle | elle-même | celle | celle-ci | celle-là | |||||
indeterminate | on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça | — | — | — | — | — | — | ce | ceci | cela, ça | ||
reflexive | — | se, s’5 | — | — | soi | soi-même | — | |||||
plural | first | — | nous | nous | — | — | nous | nous-mêmes | — | |||
second6 | — | vous | vous | — | — | vous | vous-mêmes, vous-même6 |
— | ||||
third | masculine | ils7 | les | leur | y | en | eux7 | eux-mêmes7 | ceux | ceux-ci | ceux-là | |
feminine | elles | elles | elles-mêmes | celles | celles-ci | celles-là |
1 The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d‘, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
2 Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
3 On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
4 The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
5 The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
6 Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
7 Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.
Further reading
- “l'”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Friulian
Article
l' m or f (definite)
Inflection
Haitian Creole
Etymology
Contration of li, from French lui.
Pronoun
l'
Ido
Article
l'
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l/
Article
l' m or f (apocopated) (definite)
Inflection
Pronoun
l' m or f (apocopated)
Usage notes
- Optionally elides before a vowel, especially before ho and ha: l'ho, l'ha. Elision before other verbs beginning with a stressed vowel is less common: lo era instead of l'era, lo è instead of l'è.
See also
Number | Person | Gender | Nominative | Reflexive | Accusative | Dative | Combined | 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). |
Ladin
Article
l' f (singular)
See also
Leonese
Etymology 1
Contraction of the masculine article el.
Article
l' m sg
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.
Article
l' f sg
Usage notes
- The feminine singular article la contracts to l' before a word beginning with a or ha.
Ligurian
Article
l' m sg (definite)
- (before a vowel) the (+ a masculine name in the singular)
Middle French
Article
l'
Usage notes
- Earlier manuscripts omit the apostrophe
- lame ― the soul
Neapolitan
Etymology
Particle
l' m and f (singular and plural definite)
Old French
Article
l'
Usage notes
- Original manuscripts omit the apostrophe
- lame ― the soul
Romagnol
Alternative forms
- e' before a consonant
Article
l' m (before a vowel)
Sassarese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /l‿/, (after a word ending in a vowel) /r‿/
Article
l'
Inflection
Pronoun
l'
Usage notes
- Used before a vowel sound.