WordCodex

a

See also: A, ᴀ, and Variations of "a"

a - Translingual

Pronunciation

  • (letter, most languages): IPA: /ɑː/, /a/

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Symbol

a

  1. Used in the International Phonetic Alphabet and several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent an open front unrounded vowel.

Symbol

a

  1. atto-, prefix for 10-18 in the International System of Units.

Symbol

a

  1. Year as a unit of time, specifically a Julian year or 365.25 days.

Symbol

a

  1. An are, a unit of area one hundredth of a hectare; ares.

Symbol

a

  1. (physics) acceleration

Other representations of A:

  • Signal flag:
  • Letter styles
  • Uppercase and lowercase versions of A, in normal and italic type
  • Uppercase and lowercase A in Fraktur
  • Approximate form of Greek uppercase Α (a, “alpha”), the source of both common variants of a A in uncial script

a - English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /æ/, /ɑː/, /eɪ/, etc.

Letter

a (lowercase, uppercase A, plural as or a's)

  1. The first letter of the English alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

  • In English, the letter a usually denotes the near-open front unrounded vowel (IPA: /æ/), as in pad, the open back unrounded vowel (IPA: /ɑː/) as in father, or, followed by another vowel, the diphthong IPA: /eɪ/, as in ace.
  • A is the third most common letter in English.

Derived terms

Numeral

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The ordinal number first, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.

Noun

a (plural aes)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A / a.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

  • a-okay

Translations

Pronunciation

  • (stressed) IPA: /ˈeɪ/
  • (unstressed) IPA: /ə/
  • Homophone: her (non-rhotic, unstressed)

Article

a (indefinite)

  1. One; any indefinite example of; used to denote a singular item of a group.
    • There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
  2. Used in conjunction with the adjectives score, dozen, hundred, thousand, and million, as a function word.
    • I've seen it happen a hundred times.
  3. One certain or particular; any single.
    • We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London.
  4. The same; one.
    • We are of a mind on matters of morals.
  5. Any, every; used before a noun which has become modified to limit its scope; also used with a negative to indicate not a single one.
    • A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties.
    • He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head?
  6. Used before plural nouns modified by few, good many, couple, great many, etc.
  7. Someone or something like; similar to; Used before a proper noun to create an example out of it.
    • The center of the village was becoming a Times Square.

Usage notes

Main appendix: English articles#Indefinite articles
  • In standard English, the article a is used before consonant sounds, while an is used before vowel sounds; for more, see the usage notes about an.

Derived terms

Translations

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/

Preposition

a

  1. To do with separation; In, into.
    • Torn a pieces.
  2. To do with time; Each, per, in, on, by.
    • I brush my teeth twice a day.
  3. To do with status; In.
  4. (archaic) To do with position or direction; In, on, at, by, towards, onto.
    • Stand a tiptoe.
  5. (archaic) To do with process, with a passive verb; In the course of, experiencing.
  6. (archaic) To do with an action, an active verb; Engaged in.
  7. (archaic) To do with an action/movement; To, into.
  8. (obsolete) To do with method; In, with.
  9. (obsolete) To do with role or capacity; In.

Usage notes

  • (position, direction): Can also be attached without a hyphen, as aback, ahorse, afoot. See a-
  • (separation): Can also be attached without hyphen, as asunder. See a-
  • (status): Can also be attached without hyphen, as afloat, awake. See a-.
  • (process): Can also be attached with or without hyphen, as a-changing

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/

Verb

a

  1. (archaic or slang) Have.
    • I'd a come, if you'd a asked.
    • Oi'd a gen im a clout, if oi'd been theer.
      from Robert Holland, M.R.A.C., A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Chester, Part I--A to F., English Dialect Society, London, 1884, 1

Usage notes

  • Now often attached to preceding auxiliary verb. See -a.

Derived terms

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ə/
  • (it): (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ə/, /ɑ/

Pronoun

a

  1. (obsolete outside England and Scotland dialects) He, or sometimes she, it.

Alternative forms

  • o', o (preposition)

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA: /ə/

Preposition

a

  1. (archaic or slang) Of.
    • The name of John a Gaunt.

Usage notes

  • Often attached without a hyphen to preceding word.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɔ/

Adverb

a (not comparable)

  1. (chiefly Scotland) All.

Adjective

a (not comparable)

  1. (chiefly Scotland) All.

Symbol

a

  1. Distance from leading edge to aerodynamic center.
  2. specific absorption coefficient
  3. specific rotation
  4. allele (recessive)
  5. (stenoscript) (a) an initial letter ⟨a⟩
    • (b) the long vowel /eɪ/ at the end of a word, or before a final consonant that is not j, v, z (the consonant is not written; [ɛə˞] counts as /eɪr/)
    • (c) the words a, an or abbreviation A.M.
    • (d) the prefix ad-

Adverb

a

  1. (crosswords) across
    • Do you have the answer for 23a?
  2. (chiefly US) Alternative spelling of a.m. (“ante meridiem”) or am

Particle

a

  1. Alternative form of -a (“empty syllable added to songs, poetry, verse and other speech”)

Noun

a

  1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter А / а.

Quotations

Additional quotations for any terms on this page may be found at a.

a - Abau

Pronunciation

IPA: /a/

Noun

a

  1. house

a - Afar

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈʌ/

Determiner

á

  1. this, these (masculine)

a - Albanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Conjunction

a

  1. or
  2. there

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Particle

a

  1. probably, perhaps
  2. whether

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Standard Albanian Latin-script alphabet.

a - Ama

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ãː/

Noun

a

  1. tree

a - Anguthimri

Verb

a

  1. (transitive, Mpakwithi) to pull

a - Aragonese

Article

a f sg

  1. the
    • a luenga aragonesa ― the Aragonese language

a - Asturian

Preposition

a

  1. to, towards

Derived terms

Noun

a f

  1. a (the name of the letter A, a)

a - Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /ɑ/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Bambara

Article

a

  1. the (definite article).

Interjection

a

  1. ah (expression of surprise)
  2. eh (expression of reluctance)

Pronoun

a

  1. they, them (plural)
  2. he, she, they (singular)

Synonyms

  • (they): u

a - Basque

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/, [a]

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Basque alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a (indeclinable)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

a - Bavarian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɐ/

Article

a

  1. a

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɐ/

Pronoun

a

  1. he

Adverb

a

  1. Alternative form of aa: also, too, as well

a - Belizean Creole

Preposition

a

  1. of

a - Big Nambas

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. in

a - Cameroon Pidgin

Pronoun

a

  1. Alternative spelling of I (“1st person singular subject personal pronoun”)

a - Catalan

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

  • no saber ni la a

Pronunciation

  • (Eastern) IPA: /ə/
  • (Western) IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. in, at; indicating a particular time or place
    • Sóc a Barcelona.
      • I am in Barcelona.
  2. to; indicating movement towards a particular place
    • Vaig a Barcelona.
      • I'm going to Barcelona.
  3. to; indicating a target or indirect object
    • Escric una carta a la meva àvia.
      • I'm writing my grandmother a letter.
  4. per
  5. by
    • dia a dia.
      • day by day.

Usage notes

When the preposition a is followed by a masculine definite article, el or els, it is contracted with it to the forms al and als respectively. If el would be elided to the form l’ because it is before a word beginning with a vowel, the elision to a l’ takes precedence over contracting to al.

The same occurs with the salat article es, to form as except where es would be elided to s’.

Derived terms

a - Chayuco Mixtec

Conjunction

a

  1. or

a - Chibcha

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Noun

a

  1. open mouth
  2. smell, taste

a - Choctaw

Conjunction

a

  1. yes

a - Chuukese

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ/

Pronoun

a

  1. he
  2. she
  3. it

Adjective

a

  1. he is
  2. she is
  3. it is
Present and past tense Negative tense Future Negative future Distant future Negative determinate
Singular First person uauseupweusapupwapute
Second person ka, kekose, kesekopwe, kepwekosap, kesapkopwap, kepwapkote, kete
Third person aeseepweesapepwapete
PluralFirst person aua (exclusive) sia (inclusive)ause (exclusive) sise (inclusive)aupwe (exclusive) sipwe (inclusive)ausap (exclusive) sisap (inclusive)aupwap (exclusive) sipwap (inclusive)aute (exclusive) site (inclusive)
Second person ouaouseoupweousapoupwapoute
Third person ra, rereserepweresaprepwaprete

a - Cimbrian

Alternative forms

  • an (Sette Comuni)

Article

a (oblique masculine an)

  1. (Luserna) a, an
    • Maria iz a lavròunaren. ― Maria is a Lavaronese.

a - Coatepec Nahuatl

Noun

a

  1. water

a - Cornish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/

Particle

a

  1. Marks the following verb to the preceding subject.

Preposition

a

  1. of (expressing separation, origin, composition/substance or a quality)
  2. of (between a preceding large number and a following plural noun to express quantity)
  3. from (indicating provenance)

Inflection

Singular Plural
First person ahanafahanan
Second person ahanasahanowgh
Third person anodho (m) anedhy (f)anodhans, anedha

a - Corsican

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈa/
  • Homophones: à, hà

Article

a f (masculine u, masculine plural i, feminine plural e)

  1. the (feminine)

Usage notes

  • Before a vowel, a turns into l'

Pronoun

a f

  1. her, it (direct object)

Usage notes

  • Before a vowel, a turns into l'

a - Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA: [ˈa]

Conjunction

a

  1. and

a - Dalmatian

Preposition

a

  1. to
  2. at

a - Danish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /æː/, [ˈæːˀ]

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Danish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /æː/, [ˈæːˀ]

Noun

a n (singular definite a'et, plural indefinite a'er)

  1. The name of the letter A or a.

Inflection

gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative a a'et a'er a'erne
genitive a's a'ets a'ers a'ernes

Alternative forms

  • à (unofficial but common)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/, [ˈaˀ]

Preposition

a

  1. of, of...each, each containing
  2. at
  3. to, or

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /æː/, [ˈæːˀ]

Verb

a

  1. imperative of ae

a - Dutch

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA: /aː/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Alternative forms

  • aa (especially in names)
  • ie

Noun

a f (plural a's, diminutive aatje)

  1. (archaic) a stream or water

Pronoun

a

  1. (Brabant) you

Synonyms

a - Egyptian

Romanization

a

  1. Manuel de Codage transliteration of ꜥ.

a - Emilian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɐ/
  • Hyphenation: a

Pronoun

a (personal, nominative case)

  1. I
  2. we
  3. you (plural)

Alternative forms

  • Becomes aj- before a vowel (proclitic).
  • Becomes -ja when acting as an enclitic.
Number Person Gender Disjunctive (tonic) Nominative (subject) Accusative (direct complement) Dative (indirect complement) Reflexive (-self) Comitative (with)
SingularFirst— mèamemêg
Second— tèettetêg
ThirdMasculine lóalgesesêg
Feminine lêla
PluralFirstMasculine nuēter a se nōsk
Feminine nuētri
SecondMasculine vuēter a ve vōsk
Feminine vuētri
ThirdMasculine lôr i ge se sêg
Feminine el li

a - Esperanto

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA: /a/
  • (phoneme): IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Esperanto alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a (accusative singular a-on, plural a-oj, accusative plural a-ojn)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A/a.

a - Estonian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑː/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Estonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a

  1. Abbreviation of aasta; year

Conjunction

a

  1. (colloquial, in fast speech) but

a - Fala

Article

a f (plural as, masculine o, masculine plural os)

  1. feminine singular of the definite article o

Preposition

a

  1. to

a - Faroese

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛaː/
  • Homophone: æ

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Finnish

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Finnish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a

  1. (music) A (note)

Usage notes

Capitalized for the great octave or any octave below that, or in names of major keys; not capitalized for the small octave or any octave above that, or in names of minor keys.

Declension

singular plural
nominative a a:t
genitive a:n a:iden a:itten
partitive a:ta a:ita
accusative a a:n a:t
inessive a:ssa a:issa
elative a:sta a:ista
illative a:han a:ihin
adessive a:lla a:illa
ablative a:lta a:ilta
allative a:lle a:ille
essive a:na a:ina
translative a:ksi a:iksi
instructive – a:in
abessive a:tta a:itta
comitative – a:ineen

a - French

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a m or f (plural as)

  1. a, the name of the Latin-script letter A

Derived terms

Pronunciation

  • (Canada) IPA: /a/

Pronoun

a f

  1. (Quebec, colloquial) alternative form of elle (“she”)
    • C'te fille-là, a'a l'air cute.
      • This girl, she looks cute.

Pronunciation

  • (France) IPA: /a/
  • (Canada) IPA: /a/, /ɔ/
  • Homophones: à, as

Verb

a

  1. third-person singular present indicative of avoir
    • Elle a un chat.
      • She has a cat.

a - Fula

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Pronoun

a

  1. you (second person singular subject pronoun; short form)

Usage notes

  • Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).
  • Used in all conjugations except the affirmative non-accomplished, where the long form is used instead.

a - Galician

Pronunciation

IPA: /a̝/

Preposition

a

  1. to, toward; indicating direction of motion
  2. introducing an indirect object
  3. used to indicate the time of an action
  4. (with de) to, until; used to indicate the end of a range
    • de cinco a oito ― from five to eight
  5. by, on, by means of; expresses a mode of action
    • a pé ― on foot
  6. for; indicates price or cost

Usage notes

The preposition a regularly forms contractions when it precedes the definite article o, a, os, and as. For example, a o ("to the") contracts to ao or ó, and a a ("to the") contracts to á.

Derived terms

at/to + the table
-SingularPlural
Masculineao (ó)aos (ós)
Feminineáás

Pronunciation

IPA: /a̝/

Article

a f (masculine singular o, feminine plural as, masculine plural os)

  1. (definite) the

Usage notes

The definite article o (in all its forms) regularly forms contractions when it follows the prepositions a (“to”), con (“with”), de (“of, from”), and en (“in”). For example, con a (“with the”) contracts to coa, and en a (“in the”) contracts to na.

Also, the definite article presents a second form that could be represented as <-lo/-la/-los/-las>, or either lack any specific representation. Its origin is in the assimilation of the last consonant of words ended in -s or -r, due to sandhi, with the /l/ present in the article in pre-Galician-Portuguese period. So Vou comer o caldo or Vou come-lo caldo are representations of /ˈβowˈkomelo̝ˈkaldo̝/ ("I'm going to have my soup"). This phenomenon, rare in Portuguese, is already documented in 13th century Medieval Galician texts, as the Cantigas de Santa Maria.

Derived terms

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈa/

Noun

a m (plural as)

  1. a (name of the letter A, a)

Pronoun

a

  1. accusative of ela

a - German

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/, /ä/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the German alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a n (strong, genitive a or as, plural a or as)

  1. Alternative form of A

Noun

a

  1. Abbreviation of a-Moll.
  2. Abbreviation of Ar.

a - Gilbertese

Pronunciation

IPA: /a/

Numeral

a

  1. four

a - Gothic

Romanization

a

  1. Romanization of 𐌰

a - Grass Koiari

Pronoun

a

  1. you (singular)

a - Gun

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /à/

Pronoun

à

  1. you (second-person singular personal pronoun)

a - Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

IPA: /a/

Article

a

  1. the, definite article

Usage notes

This term only follows words that end with an oral (non-nasal) consonant and an oral vowel in that order, and can only modify singular nouns.

a - Hawaiian

Pronunciation

IPA: /aː/

Conjunction

a

  1. and (used between sentences)
  2. until, up to

Preposition

a

  1. of, belonging to

Usage notes

  • Used for acquired possessions, while o is used for possessions that are inherited, out of personal control, and for things that can be got into (houses, clothes, cars).

a - Hungarian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: [ˈɒ]

Article

a (definite)

  1. the
    • a hölgy ― the lady
  2. (before some time phrases) this
    • a héten ― (during) this week

Usage notes

Used before words starting with a consonant.

  • az (for words starting with a vowel sound)

Pronoun

a (demonstrative)

  1. (in reduplicated constructions formed with postpositions) that
    • A mellett a ház mellett vártam rá. ― I waited for him/her next to that house.

Determiner

a (demonstrative)

  1. (rare, only in consonant-initial fixed phrases, with zero article) Alternative form of az (“that”).
    • Foglalja össze, miről szóltak az a heti beszédek és leckék. ― Summarize what that week’s sermons and lessons were about.
    • November 12-én, az a havi frissítőkedden jelenhet meg. ― It may be released on November 12th, on the Patch Tuesday of that month.
    • Kérjük szíves tájékoztatásukat a tekintetben, hogy… (= abban a tekintetben, see az) ― We kindly request your information in that [= the] aspect…
    • amondó vagyok, hogy… ― I am of the opinion that…, what/all I can / want to say is that… (literally, “I am that-sayer/-saying…”)

Pronunciation

  • (letter or phoneme itself): IPA: [ˈɒː]
  • (identifier or musical note): IPA: [ˈaː] (in the names of minor scales; see also A)

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Hungarian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  2. (music) designation of the sixth note from C and the corresponding tone

Derived terms

a - Icelandic

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aː/

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a ?

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

a - Ido

Pronunciation

  • (context pronunciation, letter name) IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a (plural a-i)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A/a.

Preposition

a

  1. Apocopic form of ad
  • e (“and”)
  • o (“or”)

a - Igbo

Letter

a (upper case A, lower case a)

  1. The first letter of the Igbo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Alternative forms

  • e (neutral tongue position)

Pronunciation

  • (high-tone): IPA: /á/
  • (low-tone): IPA: /à/

Pronoun

a

  1. (indefinite) somebody, one, they, people (an unspecified individual).
    • A gwara ya ka ọ bịa.
      • He/she was told to come.

Usage notes

  • Often gets translated into English with the passive voice.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /à/

Determiner

a

  1. this.

a - Indo-Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • (Sri Lankan Creole) IPA: /a/, /ə/

Preposition

a

  1. to

a - Indonesian

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA: /a/
  • (phoneme): IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Indonesian alphabet, called id and written in the Latin script.

a - Ingrian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɑ/
  • Hyphenation: a

Conjunction

a

  1. and, but

a - Interlingua

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. to, at
  2. to, for (indicating purpose)
    • sala a attender ― waiting room

Derived terms

a - Inupiaq

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Interjection

a

  1. listen, hark
  2. oops (used to acknowledge an error)
  3. oh (used to express surprise)

a - Irish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/

Determiner

a (triggers lenition)

  1. his, its
    • a athair agus a mháthair ― his father and mother
    • Chaill an t-éan a chleití.
      • The bird lost its feathers.

Determiner

a (triggers h-prothesis)

  1. her, its
    • a hathair agus a máthair ― her father and mother
    • Bhris an mheaig a heiteog.
      • The magpie broke its wing.

Determiner

a (triggers eclipsis)

  1. their
    • a n-athair agus a máthair ― their father and mother
    • a dtithe ― their houses
    • a n-ainmneacha ― their names
  2. (Connacht) our
  3. (Connacht) your (plural)

Determiner

a (triggers lenition)

  1. how (used with an abstract noun)
    • A ghéire a labhair sí!
      • How sharply she spoke!
    • A fheabhas atá sé!
      • How good it is!

Particle

a (triggers lenition except of d’ and of past autonomous forms)

  1. introduces a direct relative clause, takes the independent form of an irregular verb
    • an fear a chuireann síol ― the man who sows seed
    • an síol a chuireann an fear ― the seed that the man sows
    • an síol a cuireadh ― the seed that was sown
    • nuair a bhí mé óg ― when I was young
    • an cat a d'ól an bainne ― the cat that drank the milk

Particle

a (triggers eclipsis, takes the dependent form of an irregular verb; not used in the past tense except with some irregular verbs)

  1. introduces an indirect relative clause
    • an bord a raibh leabhar air ― the table on which there was a book
    • an fear a bhfuil a mhac ag imeacht ― the man whose son is going away
  • ar (used with the past tense of regular and some irregular verbs)

Pronoun

a (triggers eclipsis, takes the dependent form of an irregular verb; not used in the past tense except with some irregular verbs)

  1. all that, whatever
    • Sin a bhfuil ann.
      • That's all that is there.
    • An bhfuair tú a raibh uait?
      • Did you get all that you wanted?
    • Íocfaidh mé as a gceannóidh tú.
      • I will pay for whatever you buy.
  • ar (used with the past tense of regular and some irregular verbs)

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. introduces a vocative
    • A Dhia!
      • O God!
    • A dhuine uasail!
      • Sir!
    • Tar isteach, a Sheáin.
      • Come in, Seán.
    • A amadáin!
      • You fool!

Particle

a (triggers h-prothesis)

  1. introduces a numeral
    • a haon, a dó, a trí... ― one, two, three...
    • Séamas a Dó ― James the Second
    • bus a seacht ― bus seven

Preposition

a (plus dative, triggers lenition)

  1. to (used with verbal nouns)
    • síol a chur ― to sow seed
    • uisce a ól ― to drink water
    • an rud atá sé a scríobh ― what he is writing
    • D’éirigh sé a chaint.
      • He rose to speak.
    • Téigh a chodladh.
      • Go to sleep.

Mutation

Irish mutation
RadicalEclipsiswith h-prothesiswith t-prothesis
a n-a ha not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

a - Istriot

Preposition

a

  1. at

Particle

a

  1. emphasises a verb; mandatory with impersonal verbs

a - Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/*
  • Hyphenation: a

Noun

a f (invariable)

  1. a, the name of the Latin-script letter A

Preposition

a

  1. indicates the indirect object; to
    • Porta questo cesto alla nonna.
      • Bring this basket to grandma.
    • Ai gatti piacciono i pesci.
      • Cats like fish.
      • (literally, “Fish are pleasable to cats.”)
    • E lo chiedi a me?
      • You're asking that to me?
  2. indicates the place, used in some contexts, in others in is used; in, to
    • Andiamo a casa?
      • Can we go home?
      • (literally, “Can we go to home?”)
    • Ora sto a Palermo, a Roma ci torno domani.
      • I'm in Palermo now, I'll go back to Rome tomorrow.
  3. denotes the manner; with
  4. forms adverbs meaning "in a manner related or resembling ~"
  5. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation.
    • A domani! ― [See you] tomorrow!
    • A dopo! ― [See you] later!
    • Al prossimo Natale! ― [See you] next Christmas!
  6. (cooking) indicates the ingredient of a dish; with
    • pasta all'uovo ― pasta with eggs
    • cornetto al cioccolato ― chocolate croissant
  7. (regional, central Italy, southern Italy) denotes the direct object, but only if it's not preceded by articles
    • Chiama a Paolo.
      • Call Paolo.
    • E non ci avevi visto a noi?
      • And you didn't see us?
        • the "us" here is repeated twice for emphasis
    • Ascolti a me, signó!
      • Listen to me, ma'am!

Usage notes

  • When followed by a word that begins with a vowel sound, the form ad is used instead.
  • When followed by the definite article, a combines with the article to produce the following combined forms:

Descendants

  • Norwegian Bokmål: a

Verb

a

  1. Misspelling of ha.

a - Japanese

Romanization

a

  1. Rōmaji transcription of あ
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ア

a - Jersey Dutch

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA: /ʊ/, /ɑ/

Letter

a

  1. A letter of the Jersey Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - K'iche'

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aː/

Adjective

a

  1. masculine youth indicator

Adverb

a

  1. (interrogatory) indicator of a question

Pronoun

a

  1. your

a - Kabuverdianu

Letter

a (uppercase A)

  1. The first letter of the Kabuverdianu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Kabyle

Alternative forms

Determiner

a

  1. this
    • a rgaz a
      • this man

a - Kalasha

Pronoun

a (Arabic آ‎)

  1. I (1st-person personal pronoun)

a - Kayan

Letter

a

  1. a the first letter of Kayan alphabet.

Pronoun

a

  1. used for he, she, third person.

a - Koitabu

Pronoun

a

  1. you (singular)

a - Krisa

Pronunciation

IPA: /a/

Noun

a m

  1. pig
    • Nana a doma.
      • I shot your pig.

a - Ladin

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. in
  2. at
  3. to

Derived terms

a - Lashi

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʔa/

Adverb

a

  1. not

a - Latgalian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈa/
  • Hyphenation: a

Conjunction

a f

  1. and, but

a - Latin

Pronunciation

(letter name):

  • (Classical) IPA: /aː/, [äː]
  • (Ecclesiastical) IPA: /a/, [äː]

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. (sometimes with littera) the first letter of the Latin alphabet.
    • littera a ― the letter a

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA: /aː/, [äː]
  • (Ecclesiastical) IPA: /a/, [äː]

Noun

ā f (indeclinable)

  1. The name of the letter A.

Coordinate terms

Alternative forms

  • à (earlier in New Latin)
  • ab

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA: /aː/, [äː]
  • (Ecclesiastical) IPA: /a/, [äː]

Preposition

ā (+ ablative)

  1. (indicating ablation): from, away from, out of
  2. (indicating ablation): down from
  3. (indicating agency): (source of action or event) by, by means of
  4. (indicating instrumentality): (source of action or event) by, by means of, with
  5. (indicating association): to, with
  6. (indicating location): at, on, in
  7. (time) after, since

Usage notes

Used in conjunction with passive verbs to mark the agent.

  • Liber ā discipulō aperītur.
    • The book is opened by the student.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Italian: a
    • Norwegian Bokmål: a
  • Norwegian Bokmål: a

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA: /aː/, [äː]
  • (Ecclesiastical) IPA: /a/, [äː]

Interjection

ā

  1. ah

a - Latvian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: [a]

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Latvian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a m (invariable)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A/a.

a - Laz

Determiner

a

  1. Latin spelling of ა (a)

Letter

a

  1. The first letter of the Laz alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Numeral

a

  1. Latin spelling of ა (a)

a - Ligurian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Article

a f sg (plural e)

  1. the

Preposition

a

  1. in
  2. at
  3. to
    • Vàddo a câza. ― I'm going home. (literally, “I go to home.”)
  4. indicates the direct object, mainly to avoid confusion when it, the subject, or both are displaced, or for emphasis
    • A mæ seu ghe fa mâ 'n bràsso. ― My sister's arm hurts. (literally, “To my sister an arm hurts.”)

a - Livonian

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /ɑ/

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Louisiana Creole French

Verb

a

  1. to have

a - Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: [a]

Conjunction

a

  1. and

a - Lushootseed

Letter

a

  1. The second letter of the Lushootseed alphabet, pronounced as an open back unrounded vowel.

a - Malay

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Maltese

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/ (short phoneme)
  • IPA: /aː/ (long phoneme)

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Mandarin

Romanization

a (a5 / a0, Zhuyin ˙ㄚ)

  1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 呵.
  2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 啊.
  3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 阿.

a

  1. Nonstandard spelling of ā.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of á.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of ǎ.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of à.

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.

a - Mandinka

Pronoun

a

  1. he, him (personal pronoun)
    • A m busa ― He/she struck me.
    • Y a busa ― They struck him/her.
  2. she, her (personal pronoun)
  3. it (personal pronoun)

a - Maori

Particle

a

  1. of
  2. (determinative particle for names)
  3. (particle for pronouns when succeeding ki, i, kei, and hei)

Usage notes

  • When used in the sense of of, suggests that the possessor has control of the relationship (alienable possession).

a - Mezquital Otomi

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /à/

Interjection

a

  1. expresses satisfaction, pity, fright, or admiration

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /à/, /ǎ/

Verb

a

  1. (transitive) wake, awaken

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /á/, /ǎ/

Noun

a

  1. flea

Derived terms

  • aꞌni
  • mfoxꞌa

a - Middle Dutch

Noun

â f

  1. (rare) river, stream, water

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

  • Dutch: a

a - Middle English

Pronoun

a

  1. Alternative form of an (mainly preconsonantal)

Pronoun

a

  1. (Late Middle English) Alternative form of I (“I”)

Pronoun

a

  1. Alternative form of heo (“she”)

Pronoun

a

  1. Alternative form of he (“he”)

Pronoun

a

  1. Alternative form of he (“they”)

Numeral

a

  1. (Northern, Early Middle English) Alternative form of oo (“one”)

a - Middle French

Alternative forms

  • à (after 1550)

Preposition

a

  1. to; towards

Verb

a

  1. third-person singular present indicative of avoir

a - Middle Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. O (vocative particle)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Pronoun

a (triggers lenition)

  1. who, which, that

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. inserted before the verb when the subject of direct object precedes it

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. used to introduce a direct question
  2. whether, used to introduce an indirect question

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. used between a focused adjective and the noun it modifies

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Conjunction

a (triggers aspiration)

  1. and

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a (triggers aspiration)

  1. with

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aː/

Verb

a

  1. third-person singular present indicative of mynet

Mutation

Middle Welsh mutation
RadicalSoftNasalH-prothesis
aunchangedunchangedha
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

a - Min Nan

For pronunciation and definitions of a – see 阿. (This character, a, is the Pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 阿.)

a - Mòcheno

Article

a (oblique masculine an)

  1. a, an

a - Mopan Maya

Article

a

  1. the

a - Mountain Koiari

Pronoun

a

  1. you (singular)

a - Murui Huitoto

Adverb

a

  1. Alternative spelling of aa

a - Nauruan

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ/

Pronoun

a

  1. I (first person singular pronoun)

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.
    • a = /a˨/
    • ą = /ã˨/
    • á = /a˥/
    • ą́ = /ã˥/
    • aa = /aː˨˨/
    • ąą = /ãː˨˨/
    • áa = /aː˥˨/
    • ą́ą = /ãː˥˨/
    • aá = /aː˨˥/
    • ąą́ = /ãː˨˥/
    • áá = /aː˥˥/
    • ą́ą́ = /ãː˥˥/

a - Neapolitan

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. from (referring to a place)
  2. by (introducing the actor in the passive voice)
  3. to (implying necessity)

Preposition

a

  1. in (locative: staying in a place of relative width)
  2. to (locative: moving towards a place of relative width)
  3. to (dative)

a - Nias

Verb

a (imperfective manga)

  1. (transitive) to eat

a - Norman

Verb

a

  1. (Guernsey) third-person singular present indicative of aver

a - Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA: /ɑː/
  • (phoneme): IPA: /ɑː/, /a/
  • Hyphenation: a
  • Homophones: A, à, A-, a-, ah

Letter

a (uppercase A)

  1. The first letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a m (definite singular a-en, indefinite plural a-er, definite plural a-ene)

  1. the letter a, the first letter of the Norwegian alphabet
  2. indicates the first or best entry of a list, order or rank
    • oppgang A ― apartment entrance A
    • blodgruppe A ― blood group A
    • førerkort i klasse A ― (motorcycle) driver's license in class A
    • øl i klasse A ― beer in class A (with 0,0-0,7 volume percent alcohol)
    • A post ― A post / priority mail
    • A-aksje ― class A-share
    • hepatitt A ― hepatitis A
    • Synonyms: A-, a-
  3. the highest grade in a school or university using the A-F scale
    • få A til eksamen
      • receive an A on an exam
  4. (music) designation of the sixth note from C and the corresponding tone
  5. (physics) symbol for ampere
  6. (physics) symbol for nucleon number
  7. (horology) symbol for avance
  8. symbol for anno
  9. short form of atom-
    • a-bombe
      • atom bomb (a-bomb)
    • Synonym: a-

Derived terms

Symbol

a

  1. atto-, prefix for 10-18 in the International System of Units.

Symbol

a

  1. an are, a unit of area one hundredth of a hectare; ares
    • Synonym: ar

Preposition

a

  1. Alternative spelling of à

Alternative forms

Preposition

a

  1. (used in Latin expressions, before a consonant) from, of

Alternative forms

Preposition

a

  1. (used in Italian expressions, before a consonant) from, of, with
  2. weak form of av (of)

Pronoun

a

  1. (dialectal, used enclitically after a conjunction or subjunction) she
  2. (dialectal, about grammatically feminine animals or objects) it, she
    • hvor er a katta di?
      • where is your cat?
    • Synonym: hun
  3. (dialectal, used enclitically) her; object form of hun (=she)
    • hva gjorde du med a?
      • what did you do to her?
  4. (dialectal, about grammatically feminine animals or objects) it, her
    • hvis katta stikker av, må du fange a!
      • if the cat runs away, you need to catch her!
  5. (dialectal, used proclitically with a woman's name or female relation) she, her

Interjection

a

  1. expression of surprise or horror
    • a, for noe tøv!
      • oh, such nonsense!
  2. expression of admiration or happiness
    • a, det gjorde godt!
      • oh, that felt good!
  3. used with the words yes and no to give a sense of impatience or rejection
    • a jo, men hold nå fred!
      • oh yes, but keep quiet now

Interjection

a

  1. expression of anger or sorrow, especially with a personal pronoun
    • uff a meg!
      • oh, my!
    • huff a meg!
      • oh, no!

Alternative forms

Anagrams

a - Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑː/ (example of pronunciation)

Letter

a (lowercase, uppercase A)

  1. The first letter of the Norwegian Nynorsk alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a m (definite singular a-en, indefinite plural a-ar, definite plural a-ane)

  1. the letter a

Interjection

a

  1. ah!

Preposition

a

  1. (dialect) alternative form of av

a - Nupe

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA: /a/, (after /n/ or /m/) /ã/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /à/

Particle

à

  1. not (placed at the end of a clause to negate it)
    • Mi de eshìgi à, mi ma de dàǹgi à. ― I don't have a dog, and I don't have a cat.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /á/

Particle

á

  1. Marks the perfective aspect, for actions that are completed

Usage notes

á, which is derived from the verb lá (“to take”), functions like a verb so that the word order in the present perfect tense is that of a serial verb construction.

  • Musa shi dùkùn ― Musa bought a pot
  • Musa á dùkùn shi. ― Musa has bought a pot. (literally, “Musa took a pot to buy”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /à/

Particle

à

  1. Used to express the future tense (placed before verbs)
    • A à lá èbi be nakàn ― They will use a knife to cut the meat

a - Occitan

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. to
  2. at

Derived terms

Noun

a f (plural as)

  1. a (the letter a)

Verb

a

  1. third-person singular present indicative of aver

a - Old Danish

Alternative forms

  • aa (Jutlandic)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑː/

Noun

ā (genitive ār, plural ār)

  1. (Scania) stream, river

Descendants

  • Danish: å

Preposition

ā

  1. (Scania) on, in, at

Descendants

Verb

ā

  1. first/third-person singular present indicative of ēgha

a - Old Dutch

Noun

ā f

  1. river, stream, water

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

Descendants

  • Middle Dutch: â

a - Old English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑː/

Adverb

ā

  1. ever, always

Descendants

a - Old French

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Old French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Alternative forms

  • ad
  • à (not in manuscripts; occasionally used by scholars to differentiate between the preposition and the verb form)

Preposition

a

  1. to
  2. towards
  3. belonging to
    • fil a putain ― son of a whore

Derived terms

Descendants

  • French: à
    • → Danish: à
    • → Dutch: à
    • → German: à
    • → Hungarian: à
    • → Norwegian Bokmål: à, a
    • → Swedish: à

Alternative forms

Verb

a

  1. third-person singular present indicative of avoir

a - Old Irish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Alternative forms

  • (relative pronoun): an

Article

a

  1. nominative/accusative singular neuter of in

For quotations using this term, see a.

Pronoun

a (triggers eclipsis, takes a leniting relative clause using a deuterotonic or absolute verb form)

  1. that which, what

For quotations using this term, see a.

Descendants

  • Irish: a
  • Scottish Gaelic: a

Conjunction

a (triggers eclipsis, takes a nasalizing relative clause)

  1. when

For quotations using this term, see a.

Alternative forms

Determiner

a (predicative aí or áe) (triggers lenition in the masculine and neuter singular, an unwritten prothetic /h/ before a vowel in the feminine singular, and eclipsis in the plural)

  1. his, its
  2. her, its
  3. their

For quotations using this term, see a.

Descendants

  • Irish: a (“his, her, its, their”)
  • Scottish Gaelic: a (“his, her, its”); an (“their”)

Alternative forms

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. O (vocative particle)

For quotations using this term, see a.

Descendants

  • Irish: a
  • Scottish Gaelic: a

Particle

a (triggers an unwritten prothetic /h/ before a vowel)

  1. introduces a numeral
    • a deich ― ten

Descendants

  • Irish: a
  • Scottish Gaelic: a

Preposition

a (combined with plural article asnaib, combined with 1st singular possessive determiner asmo, combined with 3rd person possessive determiner assa)

  1. out of

For quotations using this term, see a.

Inflection

Person Normal Emphatic
1st person sing. asum
2d person sing. essiut
3d sing. masc./neut., dative as(s), es
3d sing. masc./neut., accusative
3d sing. fem., dative e(i)ssi, esse essisi
3d sing. fem., accusative
1st person pl.
2d person pl.
3d person pl., dative es(s)ib, eissib
3d person pl., accusative

Descendants

  • Irish: as
  • Manx: ass
  • Scottish Gaelic: à

a - Old Polish

Interjection

a

  1. ah! (used when the speaker has remembered or noticed something)

Conjunction

a

  1. and (used to continue a previous statement or to add to it)
  2. and, but, whereas (used contrastively)
  3. and then (used to say an event will occur if some requirement is fulfilled)
  4. Emphasizes a question.
  5. Introduces a new sentences.

Descendants

  • Polish: a

a - Old Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. to; towards

Descendants

  • Fala: a
  • Galician: a
  • Portuguese: a
    • Indo-Portuguese: a

Article

a

  1. Alternative spelling of á

a - Old Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aː/

Noun

a f

  1. creek, river

Descendants

  • Swedish: å

a - Ometepec Nahuatl

Noun

a

  1. water

a - Oromo

Noun

a (plural aa)

  1. The first letter of the Oromo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Palauan

Article

a

  1. a, the

Conjunction

a

  1. linking particle

a - Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/
  • Syllabification: a

Letter

a (lowercase, uppercase A)

  1. The first letter of the Polish alphabet, written in the Latin script.
    • małe a ― a minuscule/small/little a
    • duże a ― a capital/big/large a

Noun

a n (indeclinable)

  1. a, near-open central vowel
    • samogłoska a ― the vowel a
    • powiedzieć a ― to say a
  2. (music) a (note)
    • zagrać a ― to play an a
    • zaśpiewać a ― to sing an a

Noun

a m inan

  1. (metrology) Abbreviation of ar.

Conjunction

a

  1. and, but, whereas (used contrastively)
    • A ty? ― And you?
    • Wolisz tabletki, a ja wolę zastrzyki. ― You prefer pills whereas I prefer injections.
  2. and (used to continue a previous statement or to add to it)
    • walka między dobrem a złem ― battle between good and evil
  3. and then (used to say an event will occur if some requirement is fulfilled)
    • Poszukasz, a znajdziesz. ― If you seek it, then you shall find it.
  4. and (used after a verb to indicate it will last a long time)
    • pracować a pracować ― to work and work (for a long time)
  5. such and such (used when the speaker does not want to be more specific, when repeating an element)
  6. is (used to show some connection between two objects which are very different from each other)
  7. what about
    • Ja jestem gotowy, a ty? ― I'm ready, what about you?

Derived terms

Interjection

a

  1. ah! (used when the speaker has remembered or noticed something)

a - Portuguese

Pronunciation

letter
  • IPA: /a/
  • Homophone: à (Brazil)
  • Hyphenation: a
article, pronoun
  • (Portugal) IPA: /ɐ/
  • (Brazil) IPA: /a/
  • Hyphenation: a

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a m (plural as)

  1. Alternative spelling of á

Article

a

  1. feminine singular of o

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see o.

Pronoun

a f (third-person singular)

  1. her, it (as a direct object; as an indirect object, see lhe; after prepositions, see ela)
    • Encontrei-a na rua. ― I met her/it on the street.

Usage notes

  • Becomes -la after verb forms ending in -r, -s, or -z, the pronouns nos (“us”) and vos (“plural you”), and the adverb eis (“here is; behold”); the final letter causing the change disappears.
    • After ver (“to see”): Posso vê-la? — “May I see her/it?”
    • After pôs (“he/she/it put”): Ele pô-la ali. — “He put her/it there.”
    • After fiz (“I made; I did”): Fi-la ficar contente. — “I made her/it become happy.”
    • After nos (“us”): Ela deu-no-la relutantemente. — “She gave her/it to us reluctantly.”
    • After eis (“here is; behold”): Ei-la! — “Behold her/it!”
  • Becomes -na after a nasal vowel or diphthong: -ão, -am [ɐ̃w̃], -õe [õj̃], -em, -êm [ẽj̃].
    • Detêm-na como prisioneira. — “They detain her/it as a prisoner.”
  • In informal Brazilian Portuguese, the nominative form ela (“she”) is more commonly used.
    • Eu a vi. → Eu vi ela.: “I saw her/it.”

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see a.

Preposition

a

  1. to, introduces the indirect object
    • Dê-o a mim. ― Give it to me.
    • Meu coração pertence a você. ― My heart belongs to you.
    • Synonym: para
  2. to; towards, indicates destination
    • Vamos a Paris! ― Let’s go to Paris!
    • Synonyms: para, até
  3. away, indicates a physical distance
    • A vila fica a onze milhas ― The village is eleven miles away.
    • Comunicação à distância. ― Communication at a distance.
  4. with; by means of, using as an instrument or means
    • Mataram o cão a pauladas. ― They bludgeoned the dog to death. (literally, “they killed the dog with bludgeonings”)
    • A cavalo. ― On horseback.
    • Livro escrito a lápis. ― A book written with a pencil.
    • Synonyms: com, por meio de
  5. with; on, using as a medium or fuel
    • Quadro pintado a óleo. ― A painting painted with oil.
    • Fornalha a carvão. ― Coal furnace.
  6. by, using the specified measurement; in the specified quantity
    • É mais barato comprar comida ao quilo. ― It is cheaper to by food by the kilogram.
    • Os fracassos ocorrem às dezenas. ― Failures occur by the dozen.
  7. (preceded and followed by the same word) by, indicates a steady progression
    • Calma lá. Resolva o problema passo a passo. ― Easy there. Solve the problem step by step.
    • Synonym: por
  8. in the style or manner of; a la
    • Ele puxou o temperamento ao pai. ― He inherited his temperament from his father.
    • Camarão à grega. ― Greek-style shrimp.
    • Synonym: ao modo de
  9. (limited use, see usage notes) at, during the specified period
    • Dormimos à noite. ― We sleep at night.
    • O filme começa às duas horas. ― The film starts at two o’clock.
    • Synonyms: em, de
  10. (rare except in set terms) at; in, indicates a location or position
    • Isso fica à frente do altar. ― This stays in front of the altar.
    • Synonym: em
  11. indicates the direct object, mainly to avoid confusion when it, the subject, or both are displaced, or for emphasis
    • A mim ele não engana. ― He doesn’t deceive me. (literally, “To me he doesn’t deceive.”)
  12. (Portugal, followed by a verb in the infinitive form) forms the present participle; in Brazil, the gerund is used instead
    • Estou a preparar a canja ― I am preparing the chicken soup
  13. (followed by an infinitive or present passive) to, forms the future participle
    • Um trabalho a ser feito. ― A job to be done.
    • Nada a fazer. ― Nothing to be done.
    • Synonyms: para, por

Usage notes

When followed by a definite article, a is combined with the article to give the following combined forms:

In the sense of to (introducing the indirect object) usage with a personal pronoun can be replaced with an indirect pronoun (me, nos, te, vos, lhe, lhes):

  • Deram um livro a ele. → Deram-lhe um livro.

In the sense of at (during the specified period) it can be used with:

Dia (“day”), manhã (“morning”), madrugada (“early morning”) use de (“of”) instead, which can optionally be used for tarde, noitinha and noite as well. Names of months, days of the month and of the week use em (“in”).

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see a.

Descendants

  • Indo-Portuguese: a

Alternative forms

Interjection

a

  1. oh, expression of mild surprise
    • A, tudo bem então.
      • Oh, all right then.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see a.

Verb

a

  1. Misspelling of há.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see a.

Contraction

a

  1. Misspelling of à.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see a.

a - Rapa Nui

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈa/
  • Hyphenation: a

Article

a

  1. the personal article, used before proper nouns

Preposition

a

  1. along, towards

a - Rawang

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ/

Suffix

a

  1. verbal suffix for marking benefactive of the V.

Pronoun

a (upper case A)

  1. proximate demonstrative pronoun
    • Alòng èlámò.
      • Dry this one.
    • Ló webǿng nàí baqòé, ngàí abǿng bakngò lé" wa.
      • Well, you carry that side, I will carry this side.
    • A wedø nø bvttut mvjòǃ
      • Oh, it is absolutely wrong to do (it) that way.

a - Romagnol

Alternative forms

Verb

a

  1. third-person singular/plural present indicative of avér (“to have”)

Pronoun

a (plural a)

  1. (Ville Unite) I
  2. (Ville Unite) plural of a (“we”)
  3. (Ville Unite) plural of te (“you”)

a - Romani

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Interjection

a

  1. oh, ah

a - Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Romanian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Article

a (feminine singular possessive article)

  1. of (+ genitive)
    • sora mea și a lui Alexandru
      • my and Alexandru's sister
    • cartea este a mea
      • the book is mine
    • Coordinate terms: (masculine/neuter singular) al, (masculine plural) ai, (feminine/neuter plural) ale

Preposition

a

  1. (used with infinitive verbs) the infinitive marker: to
    • A fi.
      • To be.
  2. (archaic) at (now almost completely replaced by la)
  3. (used only with a few perception verbs like suna, mirosi, arăta) like

Verb

(el/ea) a (modal auxiliary, third-person singular form of avea, used with past participles to form perfect compus tenses)

  1. modal auxiliary
    • (he/she) has...
      • A văzut acest film?
        • Has he/she seen this film?

Usage notes

a is used instead of are to form the third-person singular perfect compus.

a - Sassarese

Alternative forms

  • ad (before a vowel)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Preposition

a

  1. to
  2. at
  3. in
  4. Used to convey an accusative

a - Satawalese

Pronunciation

IPA: /a/

Pronoun

a (third-person singular)

  1. he
  2. she
  3. it

a - Scots

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Scots alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: [ə]

Article

a

  1. a, an (indefinite article)

Usage notes

  • Unlike English, this form can be used before both consonant and vowel sounds. However, this is not often the case in written Scots, probably due to the influence of English.

Synonyms

  • (before a vowel): an

Determiner

a

  1. Alternative form of a'

Adverb

a

  1. Alternative form of a'

Noun

a (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of a'

a - Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/
  • Hyphenation: a

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. Used to mark a vocative; O
    • Halò, a Ruairidh. ― Hello, (O) Roderick.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/
  • Hyphenation: a

Determiner

a

  1. (triggers lenition) his, its
  2. (triggers H-prothesis) her, its

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/
  • Hyphenation: a

Pronoun

a

  1. who, which, that
    • Cuin a chluinneas tu e? ― When will you hear it? (literally, “When [is it] that you will hear it?”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/
  • Hyphenation: a

Particle

a (triggers H-prothesis)

  1. Used before cardinal numbers not succeded by a noun
    • A bheil agad a ceithir? ― Do you have four?

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/
  • Hyphenation: a

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. Used to mark the infinitive of a verb; to
    • Tha mi a' dol a chadal. ― I'm going to sleep.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/
  • Hyphenation: a

Preposition

a (+ dative, triggers lenition)

  1. Reduced form of do
  2. Reduced form of de

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/
  • Hyphenation: a

Particle

a (triggers lenition)

  1. Form of an used before bheil

Usage notes

  • Less frequently, am may be used before bheil as well.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/
  • Hyphenation: a

Pronoun

a

  1. (dialectal) Alternative form of e (“he, it”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/
  • Hyphenation: a

Interjection

a!

  1. ah!

Alternative forms

a - Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The 1st letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), followed by b.

Conjunction

a (Cyrillic spelling а)

  1. but, and (compare ȁli)
    • učio sam c(ij)elo posl(ij)epodne, a ništa nisam naučio ― I studied for the whole afternoon, but I didn't learn anything
    • a kako biste vi to napravili? ― and how would you do that?
  2. while (on the contrary), whereas
    • stolovi su crveni, a stolice su zelene ― the tables are red, whereas the chairs are green
  3. (with da ne) without (usually after negative verbs)
    • ne mogu se uključiti u raspravu, a da ne napravim nered ― I cannot enter a discussion without making a mess
    • odlazi, a da nije rekao ni zbogom ― he's leaving without even saying goodbye
  4. (a ȉpāk) and yet
    • pravi prijatelj zna sve o tebi, a ipak te voli ― the real friend knows everything about you, and yet he loves you
  5. (a kȁmoli) not to mention, let alone
    • u moru loših v(ij)esti teško je ostati objektivan, a kamoli optimističan ― in the sea of bad news it's hard to stay objective, let alone optimistic
  6. (a + i + da) even if
    • a i da jesam to napravio, ne bi to učinilo neku razliku ― even if I did it, it wouldn't have made much of a difference
  7. (a + i) and so, and also, and too
    • sviđaju mi se plavuše, a i ja se pokojoj svidim ― I like blondes, and some of them even like me
    • bili su žalosni, a i ja sam ― they were sad, and so am I

Interjection

a (Cyrillic spelling а)

  1. oh, ah
    • a da? ― oh really?

a - Sicilian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Noun

a f

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.; a

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Article

a f sg (m u, plural i)

  1. the (feminine singular definite article)
    • Synonym: la

Usage notes

  • As for other Romance languages, such as Neapolitan or Portuguese, Sicilian definite articles have undergone a consonant lenition that has led to the phonetic fall of the initial l. The use of this illiquid variant has not yet made the use of liquid variants disappear, but today it is still the prevalent use in speech and writing.
  • In the case of the production of literary texts, such as singing or poetry, or of formal and institutional texts, resorting to "liquid articles" and "liquid articulated prepositions" confers greater euphony to the text, although it may sound a form of courtly recovery.
  • Illiquid definite articles can be phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancina (liquid) and ârancina (illiquid).

Inflection

Sicilian articles
Masculine singular definite article Feminine singular definite article Masculine and feminine plural definite article
Definite articles (liquid) lu la li
Definite articles (illiquid) u a i
Definite articles nu (also: un,'n) na

Alternative forms

  • la (liquid form)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Pronoun

a f sg (plural i, masculine u)

  1. (accusative) her
    • A canusci? ― Do you know her?
    • Synonym: la
  2. (accusative) it, this or that thing
    • Synonym: la
    • Quannu tâ desi. ― When I gave it to you.

Usage notes

  • This pronoun can blend in contracted forms with other particles, especially other personal pronominal particles.

Inflection

Sicilian pronominal particles
Masculine singular pronominal particles Feminine singular pronominal particles Masculine and feminine plural pronominal particles
mi mû mâ mî
ti tû tâ tî
ci ci u ci a cî
ni nû nâ nî
vi vû vâ vî
ci ci u ci a cî

Preposition

a

  1. indicates the indirect object; to
    • Porta stu panaru â nanna.
      • Bring this basket to grandma.
    • Ê jatti ci piàciunu i pisci.
      • Cats like fish.
      • (literally, “Fish are pleasable to cats.”)
    • E mû dumanni a mìa?
      • You're asking that to me?
  2. indicates the place, used in some contexts, in others in is used; in, to
    • Jemu â casa?
      • Can we go home?
      • (literally, “Can we go to the home?”)
    • Cchiui staju a Palermu, a Ruma cci tornu dumani.
      • I'm in Palermo now, I'll go back to Rome tomorrow.
  3. denotes the manner; with
  4. denotes the direct object, but only if it's not preceded by articles
    • Chiama a Paulu.
      • Call Paolo.
    • E nun ni vidisti cchiui a nuiautri?
      • And you didn't see us?
    • Ascutassi a mìa, signù!
      • Listen to me, ma'am!

Usage notes

  • When followed by a word that begins with a vowel sound, the form ad (also rhotacized as ar) is used instead.
  • When followed by the definite article, a combines with the article to produce the following combined forms:

Verb

a

  1. Misspelling of àvi.

a - Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /ɑ/

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Slovak

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Slovak alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Conjunction

a

  1. and

Derived terms

  • a čo
  • a jednako
  • a predsa
  • a preto
  • a tak
  • a teda

a - Slovene

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme, tonal variety): IPA: /áː/, /àː/, /ʌ́/, /a/, [â], [ǎ]
  • (phoneme, non-tonal variety): IPA: /aː/, /a/
  • (letter name): IPA: /àː/, /áː/
  • Homophone: a

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  2. The first letter of the Resian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  3. The first letter of the Natisone Valley dialect alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Symbol

a

  1. (SNPT) Phonetic transcription of sound [a].

Noun

ā m inan

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A / a.
  2. The name of the phonemes /a, aː, ʌ/.

Inflection

  • Overall more common
Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing. ā
gen. sing. ā-ja
  • More common when with a definite adjective
Masculine inan., no endings
nom. sing. ā
gen. sing. ā

Derived terms

  • à, á, ā, ȁ, ȃ
  • ã, ȧ, ä, å, ḁ, ą
  • če si rekel a, reci tudi b
  • ena a
  • od a do ž

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /àː/, /áː/, /á/
  • Homophones: A, a

Interjection

a

  1. oh
  2. Used at the end of a sentence for confirmation, similarly to 'didn't I' in English.
    • Tega nisi pričakoval, a?
      • You did not expect this, did you?

Synonyms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Conjunction

a

  1. but

Particle

a

  1. contracted form of ali, particle used to form a yes- no question.

a - Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/, [a]
  • Homophone: ha

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a f (plural aes)

  1. Name of the letter A.

Alternative forms

  • (obsolete) á
  • (obsolete) à

Preposition

a

  1. to
  2. by
  3. at
  4. Used before words referring to people, pets, or personified objects or places that function as direct objects: personal a.
    • Lo busca a usted.
      • He is looking for you.

Usage notes

  • Personal a is not translated into English.

Derived terms

a - Sranan Tongo

Pronoun

a

  1. he, she, it

Article

a (singular)

  1. the

Usage notes

Sranan Tongo makes no difference between singular and plural forms, except for pronouns and determiners and the definite article. Common nouns referring to a collection of similar items are usually treated as singular where in English they would be grammatically plural, and so are referred to with singular pronouns and determiners and the singular definite article.

Preposition

a

  1. at, to
    • Synonym: na

Particle

a

  1. (copula) to be (used with a noun phrase as complement)
    • Synonym: na

Usage notes

This particle is only used when the temporal aspect is unmarked, whether for timeless facts, or for statements where time is not considered relevant.

a - Sumerian

Romanization

a

  1. Romanization of 𒀀 (a)

a - Swahili

Particle

-a

  1. The genitive particle; adjectival particle; of

Usage notes

Inflection

Noun class singular plural
M-wa class wa wa
M-mi class wa ya
Ma class la ya
Ki-vi class cha vya
N class ya za
U class wa za
Pa class pa pa
Ku class kwa kwa
Mu class mwa mwa

a - Swedish

Preposition

a

  1. from (very formal, seldom used outside written formal texts.)

Usage notes

Letter

a (name a, uppercase form A)

  1. The first letter of the Swedish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Tagalog

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: a
  • IPA: /ˈʔa/, [ˈʔɐ]
  • IPA: /ˈʔaʔ/, [ˈʔɐʔ] (ouch)

Interjection

a

  1. ah: an exclamation of pity, admiration or surprise
    • A! Kailan namatay ang iyong ina? ― Ah! When did your mother die?
  2. oh (expression of understanding or realization)
    • Synonym: aw

Interjection

â

  1. (informal) ouch (expression of pain)

Particle

a

  1. Alternative form of ha (sentence-ending particle)

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Tagalog alphabet, written in the Latin script.
  2. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

a - Tarantino

Preposition

a

  1. in
  2. at
  3. to

a - Tày

Pronunciation

  • (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA: [ʔaː˧˧]
  • (Trùng Khánh) IPA: [ʔaː˦˥]

Particle

a (呵)

  1. alright?; okay?; will you?
    • Chin a. ― Let's eat.
    • Mừa a. ― Let's go home.
  2. already
    • Chư̱ a. ― Oh right.

Derived terms

Noun

a (妸)

  1. paternal aunt
    • me̱ a ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  2. younger sister
    • a noọng ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

a - Tok Pisin

Interjection

a

  1. eh?

a - Tokelauan

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈa/
  • Hyphenation: a

Article

a

  1. a personal article, used after the prepositions i and ki and before personal names or names of months

Derived terms

Preposition

a

  1. marks alienable possession; of

a - Turkish

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /ɑ/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Turkish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A/a.

a - Turkmen

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /a/, /aː/

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Turkmen alphabet, written in the Latin script.

a - Tyap

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /a/, /aː/

Letter

a (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Tyap alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Interjection

a

  1. ah (expression of surprise, question)
  2. eh (expression of reluctance)

Pronoun

a

  1. you (2nd person subject singular personal pronoun)

Pronoun

a̱

  1. he/she (3rd person singular personal pronoun)

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /ə̀/

Pronoun

á̱

  1. they (indefinite) (3rd person plural personal pronoun)

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme) IPA: /ə́/

a - Upper Sorbian

Conjunction

a

  1. and
  2. the (establishing a parallel between two comparatives)
    • starši a mudriši ― the older, the smarter
    • dlěje a hórje ― the longer, the worse

a - Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

a

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

Noun

(classifier cái) a • (阿)

  1. a cutting tool consisting of two blades inserted into a long handle to cut grass or to harvest rice
    • Synonyms: trang, gạc
    • rèn một lưỡi a bằng ba lưỡi hái
      • (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Pronoun

a

  1. (slang, Internet, text messaging) Abbreviation of anh.

a - Votic

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Letter

a

  1. The first letter of the Votic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Interjection

a

  1. ah!, oh!
  2. oops!
  3. ouch!

Conjunction

a

  1. but (Following a negative clause or sentence) On the contrary, but rather
  2. However, although, nevertheless, on the other hand

a - Walloon

Preposition

a

  1. at

a - Welsh

Alternative forms

  • (with grave accent to indicate otherwise unpredictable short vowel) à
  • (with acute accent to indicate unusually stressed short vowel) á
  • (with circumflex to indicate otherwise unpredictable or unusually stressed long vowel) â
  • (with diaeresis to indicate disyllabicity) ä

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aː/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Welsh alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script. It is followed by b.

Mutation

  • a cannot be mutated but, being a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word afal (“apple”):
Welsh mutation
radicalsoftnasalh-prothesis
afal unchanged unchanged hafal
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Derived terms

Noun

a f (plural âu)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radicalsoftnasalh-prothesis
a unchanged unchanged ha
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aː/

Verb

a

  1. (colloquial) first-person singular future of mynd

Synonyms

  • af (literary)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Conjunction

a (triggers aspirate mutation (but not always in colloquial language))

  1. and

Synonyms

  • ac (used before a vowel)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aː/, /a/

Pronoun

a (triggers soft mutation)

  1. (relative) that, which, who (used in 'direct' relative clauses, i.e. where the pronoun refers to the subject or the direct object of an inflected verb (as opposed to a periphrastic construction with bod, to be)).
    • Y dyn a welais i ― The man that I saw

Usage notes

  1. a is not used with the third person singular present of the verb bod, where the relative verb form sydd is used instead
    • Mae'r dyn yn ifanc ― The man is young
    • Not *Y dyn a yw'n ifanc but Y dyn sydd yn ifanc
  2. a is not used in indirect relative clauses, where the pronoun is part of a genitive or periphrastic construction. Instead the second relative pronoun y is used
    • Oedd chwaer y dyn yma ― The man's sister was here
    • "The man whose sister was here": not *Y dyn a oedd ei chwaer yma but Y dyn yr oedd ei chwaer yma

a - West Makian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Verb

a

  1. (stative) to be cooked
  2. (stative) to be done, finished

Conjugation

Conjugation of a (stative verb)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a/

Verb

a

  1. (transitive) Alternative form of am (“to eat”)

Usage notes

The verb a ("to eat") takes the same verbal prefixes that directional verbs do.

Conjugation

Conjugation of a (directional verb)

a - Yola

Alternative forms

Article

a

  1. the, in later times the.

Alternative forms

Article

a

  1. one

Preposition

a

  1. Alternative form of an (“on”), (unstressed)

Pronoun

a

  1. Alternative form of thaaye (“they”)

Preposition

a

  1. Alternative form of i (“in”)

Preposition

a

  1. Alternative form of af (“of”)

a - Yoruba

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme): IPA: /a/
  • (letter name): IPA: /á/

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called á and written in the Latin script.

Noun

á

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ā/

Pronoun

a

  1. we (first-person plural personal pronoun)

Pronunciation

  • (mid-tone): IPA: /ā/
  • (high-tone): IPA: /á/

Pronoun

a

  1. him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a high-tone /a/)

Pronoun

á

  1. him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a low- or mid-tone /a/)

a - Yucatec Maya

Pronoun

a

  1. you (second-person singular pronoun)

a - Zazaki

Letter

a

  1. The first letter of the Zazaki alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronoun

a f

  1. she

a - Zhuang

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Zhuang) IPA: /ʔa˨˦/

Noun

a (Sawndip forms 𮬨 or 鵶 or ⿰下鳥 or 蚜)

  1. crow

Synonyms

Noun

a (Sawndip form 妸)

  1. (dialectal) mother

Particle

a

  1. used to express question

a - Zou

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a˧/

Noun

a

  1. hen

a - Zulu

Letter

a (lower case, upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Meaning and Definition of a
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