a

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See also A, Appendix:Variations of "a", and 𐌳

Contents

[edit] Translingual

Letter a.svg
Unicode name LATIN SMALL LETTER A
Codepoint U+0061
 ` ← Basic Latin → b 
Wikisource
See also the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica's article on:
A.

[edit] Etymology 1

Approximate form of Greek upper case Α (a, “alpha”) that was the source for both common variants of a Modification of capital letter A, from Latin A from Ancient Greek letter Α (A).

[edit] Pronunciation

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

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] Symbol

a

  1. (phonetics) Used in the International Phonetic Alphabet and in several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent an open central unrounded vowel (IPA: /a/)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Etymology 2

Abbreviation of atto-, from Danish and Norwegian atten (“eighteen”).

[edit] Symbol

a

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

[edit] Etymology 3

From Latin annus

[edit] Symbol

a

  1. A year in SI Units, specifically a Julian year or exactly 365.25 days.

Other representations of A:

  • Letter styles

  • Capital and lowercase versions of A, in normal and italic type

  • Uppercase and lowercase A in Fraktur

  • Approximate form of Greek upper case Α (a, “alpha”) that was the source for both common variants of aA in uncial script

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology 1

Runic letter ᚫ (a, “ansuz”), source for Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letters replaced by a

From Middle English and Old English lower case letter a and split of Middle English and Old English lower case letter æ.

  • Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚪ (a, “āc”) Old English lower case letter a from 7th century replacement by Latin lower case letter a of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚪ (a, “āc”), derived from Runic letter ᚫ (a, “Ansuz”).
  • Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚫ (æ, “æsc”) Old English lower case letter æ from 7th century replacement by Latin lower case ligature æ of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚫ (æ, “æsc”), also derived from Runic letter ᚫ (a, “Ansuz”).

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Pronunciation

  • (letter name)
    The current pronunciation is a comparatively modern sound, and has taken the place of what, till about the early part of the 17th century, was similar to that in other languages.
  • (phoneme) IPA: /æ/, /ɑː/, /eɪ/, ...

[edit] Letter

a lowercase (uppercase A)

  1. The first letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.
[edit] Usage notes

In English, the letter a by 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.

[edit] Derived terms
[edit] See also

[edit] Cardinal number

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.

[edit] Noun

a (plural aes)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter A/a.
  2. (often capitalized) The best grade; superiority.
    The burgers here are grade a number 1.
[edit] See also
[edit] Translations
name of the letter A, a
  • Arabic: إي (ar) ('ey) m. (English), آ (ar) ('aa) m. (Latin, etc.)
  • Catalan: a (ca) f.
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: (English letter names are called as in English, no other standard Mandarin name exists)
  • Esperanto: a (eo)
  • Hebrew: איי (he) (éy) f.
  • Hindi: ए (hi) (ē)
  • Japanese: エー (ja) (ē)

[edit] Etymology 2

Middle English, from Old English ān (“one, a, lone, sole”). The "n" was gradually lost before consonants in almost all dialects by the 15th century.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • (stressed) IPA: /eɪ/, SAMPA: /eI/
  • (unstressed) IPA: /ə/, SAMPA: /@/
  • Audio (US), stressed
    		(file)
  • Audio (US), unstressed
    		(file)

[edit] Article

a (indefinite)

  1. One; any indefinite example of.
    There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
    I've seen it happen a hundred times.
    • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii
      With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
    • 2005, Emily Kingsley (lyricist), Kevin Clash (voice actor), “A Cookie is a Sometime Food”, Sesame Street, season 36, Sesame Workshop:
      Hoots the Owl: Yes a, fruit, is a [sic], any, time, food!
  2. One certain or particular.
    We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London.
  3. The same; one.
    We are of a mind on matters of morals.
  4. Any, every.
    A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties.
[edit] Usage notes
Main appendix: English articles#Indefinite articles
  • The article an is used before vowel sounds, and a before consonant sounds.
[edit] Translations
an — see an

[edit] Etymology 3

Unstressed form of on.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. (archaic) In, on, at, by.
    A God’s name.
    Torn a pieces.
    Stand a tiptoe.
    • 1601, Shakespeare, Hamlet, IV-v
      A Sundays
  2. (archaic) In the process of; in the act of; into; to. (Used with verbal substantives in -ing which begin with a consonant.)
    • 1611, King James Bible, Hebrews 11-21
      Jacob, when he was a dying
    • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
      It was a doing.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Bob Dylan
      The times, they are a changin'.
  3. (archaic) Of.
    The name of John a Gaunt.
  4. To, each, per.
    I brush my teeth twice a day.
    The servants are given a bonus of six shillings a man.

[edit] Etymology 4

Unstressed variant of have or of.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

a (third-person singular simple present -, present participle -, simple past and past participle -)

  1. (archaic or slang) Have. (Now often attached to preceding auxiliary verb.)
    I shoulda stayed at home last night.
[edit] Derived terms
Derived terms

[edit] Etymology 5

Unstressed variant of ha (“he”), heo (“she”), etc.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Pronoun

a

  1. (obsolete, except, UK, Scotland, dialectal) He; she; it; they.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, III-ii:
      a’ brushes his hat o’ mornings.
    • 1874 Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, Barnes & Noble Classics reprint [reset], 2005, ch 5 p 117; from "Hardy's 1912 Wessex edition":
      "And how Farmer James would cuss, and call thee a fool, wouldn't he, Joseph, when 'a seed his name looking so inside-out-like?" continued Matthew Moon, with feeling. / "Ay -- 'a would," said Joseph meekly.

[edit] Etymology 6

Variant spelling of ah.

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ə/, /ɑː/

[edit] Interjection

a

  1. A meaningless syllable; ah.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, IV-iii:
      A merry heart goes all the day
      Your sad tires in a mile-a
    • (Can we date this quote?) Avery, I Love to Singa:
      I love to sing-a
      About the moon-a and the June-a and the Spring-a.

[edit] Etymology 7

Abbreviations.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Abbreviation

a

  1. (on bills, etc.) accepted
  2. ante; before
  3. (linguistics) active
  4. adjective
  5. An are, a unit of area of which 100 comprise a hectare.

[edit] See also

[edit] Statistics

[edit] External links

[edit] Abau

[edit] Noun

a

  1. house

[edit] Afar

[edit] Determiner

a

  1. this

[edit] Ama

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

a

  1. tree

[edit] Anglo-Norman

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Etymology

From Latin ad.

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to, towards

[edit] Aragonese

[edit] Etymology

From Latin illa.

[edit] Article

a f. sg.

  1. the
    A luenga aragonesa — “The Aragonese language”

[edit] Asturian

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to, towards

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Azeri

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Bavarian

[edit] Article

a

  1. a

[edit] Catalan

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

  1. The second letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] See also

[edit] Etymology 2

[edit] 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.
[edit] Usage notes

When the preposition a is followed by a masculine definite article, el (sg.) or els (pl.), it is contracted with it to the forms al (sg.) or als (pl.) 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 salty article es inv., to form as except where es would be elided to s’

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Czech

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Conjunction

a

  1. and

[edit] Dalmatian

[edit] Etymology

From Latin ad.

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to
  2. at

[edit] Danish

[edit] Alternative forms

  • à (unofficial but common)

[edit] Preposition

a

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

[edit] Verb

a

  1. imperative of ae

[edit] Dutch

[edit] Pronunciation

  • (letter name): IPA: /aː/
  • Audio
    		(file)

[edit] Etymology 1

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Etymology 2

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia nl

From Middle Dutch aa, from Old Dutch ā, from Proto-Germanic *ahwō. Cognate with Old English ēa, Old High German aha (German Ache), Old Norse á (Swedish å).

[edit] Alternative forms

  • aa (especially in names)

[edit] Noun

a f. (plural a's, diminutive aatje)

  1. (archaic) a stream or water

[edit] Esperanto

[edit] Pronunciation

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

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Noun

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

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Finnish

[edit] Abbreviation

a

  1. approbatur

[edit] French

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] Pronoun

a f. (plural elles)

  1. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought): (Quebec, informal) Alternative form of elle.

[edit] Symbol

a

  1. are (100 square metres)

[edit] Verb

a

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Galician

[edit] Etymology 1

From Latin ad (“to, toward”).

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to, toward; indicating direction of motion
  2. introduces indirect object
  3. used to indicate 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
[edit] 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.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Etymology 2

From Latin illa, feminine of ille (“that”).

[edit] Article

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

  1. (definite) the
[edit] 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.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Pronoun

a f accusative (nominative ela, oblique ela, dative lle)

  1. her: feminine singular third-person personal pronoun
[edit] Usage notes

The third-person direct object pronouns o, os, a, and as, have variant forms prefixed with l- or n-. These alternative forms appear depending on the ending of the preceding word. The l- forms (e.g. la) are used when the preceding word ends in -r or -s. The n- forms (e.g. na) are used when the preceding word ends in -u or a diphthong. These alternative forms are then suffixed to the preceding word.

In all other situations, the standard forms of the pronouns are used (o, os, a, as) and are not suffixed to the preceding word.

These direct object pronouns also form contractions when they immediately follow an indirect object pronoun. For example, Dou che a (“I gave you it”) contracts to Dou cha.

[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Related terms
[edit] See also

[edit] Haitian Creole

[edit] Article

a

  1. the: definite article

[edit] 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] Hungarian

[edit] Article

a (definite)

  1. the
    a hölgy - the lady

[edit] Usage notes

Used before words starting with a consonant.

[edit] Related terms

  • az, for words starting with a vowel

[edit] Ido

[edit] Alternative forms

  • (before a vowel) ad

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to

[edit] Interlingua

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Preposition

a

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

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Irish

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Determiner

a

  1. his, its (triggers lenition)
    A athair agus a mháthair — "His father and mother"
    Chaill an t-éan a chleití — "The bird lost its feathers"
  2. her, its (attaches h to a vowel)
    A hathair agus a máthair — "Her father and mother"
    Bhris an mheaig a heiteog — "The magpie broke its wing"
  3. their (triggers eclipsis)
    a dtithe — "their houses"
    a n-ainmneacha — "their names"

[edit] Particle

a

  1. Vocative (triggers lenition)
    A Dhia! — "O God!"
    A dhuine uasail — "Sir"
    Tar isteach, a Sheáin — "Come in, Seán"
    A amadáin! — "You fool!"
  2. Numeral (attaches h to a vowel)
    A haon, a dó, a trí... — "One, two, three..."
    Séamas a Dó — "James the Second"
    Bus a seacht — "The number seven bus"
  3. Direct relative (triggers lenition)
    An fear a chuireann síol — "The man who sows seed"
    An síol a chuireann an fear — "The seed that the man sows"
    Nuair a éirím — "When I rise"
  4. Indirect relative (triggers eclipsis)
    An bord a bhfuil leabhar air — "The table on which there is a book"
    An fear a bhfuil a mac ag imeacht — "The man whose son is going away"
  5. how, used with an abstract noun (triggers lenition)
    A ghéire a labhair sí — "How sharply she spoke"
    A fheabhas atá sé — "How good it is"

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to, used with a verbal noun (triggers lenition)
    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"

[edit] Pronoun

a

  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"

[edit] Italian

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Latin ad. In a few phrases, a stems from Latin a, ab.[1]

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. in
  2. at
  3. to
  4. Indicates the direct object, mainly to avoid confusion when it, the subject, or both are displaced, or for emphasis
    A me non importa. — “It doesn’t matter to me.” (literally, "To me it doesn’t matter.")
    A lei non piace, ma a lui piace molto — “She doesn't like it, but he likes it very much.”
[edit] Usage notes

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

a + article Combined form
a + il al
a + lo allo
a + l' all'
a + i ai
a + gli agli
a + la alla
a + le alle

[edit] Etymology 2

[edit] Verb

a

  1. Common misspelling of ha.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Angelo Prati, "Vocabolario Etimologico Italiano", Torino, 1951

[edit] Japanese

[edit] Syllable

a

  1. The hiragana syllable あ (a) or the katakana syllable ア (a) in Hepburn romanization.

[edit] Noun

a (hiragana あ)

  1. あ: hiragana letter a
  2. ア: katakana letter a

[edit] Krisa

[edit] Noun

a m.

  1. pig

[edit] Latin

[edit] Etymology 1

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this word, please add it to the page as described here.

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

  1. (sometimes with littera) the first letter of the Latin alphabet.
    littera a — “the letter a”
[edit] Usage notes

See Appendix:Mutations of the letter and sound a in the Latin language

[edit] Etymology 2

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this word, please add it to the page as described here.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

ā (indeclinable)

  1. The name of the letter A.
[edit] Coordinate terms

[edit] References

  • Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), part III: “Summary of the Ancient Evidence”, page 32
      Clearly there is no question or doubt about the names of the vowels A, E, I, O, U. They are simply long A, long E, etc. (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Nor is there any uncertainty with respect to the six mutes B, C, D, G, P, T. Their names are bē, cē, dē, gē, pē, tē (each with a long E). Or about H, K, and Q: they are hā, kā, kū — each, again, with a long vowel sound.

[edit] Etymology 3

Shortened form of ab.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Preposition

ā (takes object in ablative case)

  1. of; from
[edit] Alternative forms
[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Etymology 4

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this word, please add it to the page as described here.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Interjection

ā!

  1. ah

[edit] Lower Sorbian

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Conjunction

a

  1. and

[edit] Maori

[edit] Particle

a

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

[edit] Usage Notes

  • When used in the sense of of, suggests that the possessor has control of the relationship.

[edit] Mandarin

[edit] Romanization

a

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

[edit] Usage notes

  • English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

[edit] Middle French

[edit] Etymology 1

Old French, from Latin ad.

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to; towards

[edit] Etymology 2

Old French, from Latin habet.

[edit] Verb

a

  1. third-person singular present indicative of avoir

[edit] Min Nan

simpl. and trad.
啊

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Interjection

a (POJ, traditional and simplified 啊)

  1. ah; oh

[edit] Usage notes

  • Placed at the end of a sentence, or used by itself to express surprise.

[edit] References

  • "啊" (in Taiwanese/English). On-line Taiwanese/Mandarin Dictionary (台文／華文線頂辭典). URL accessed on 2011-01-29.

[edit] Navajo

[edit] 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˥˥/

[edit] Novial

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to

[edit] Usage notes

When followed by the definite article li, a may optionally be combined with the article to give al.

[edit] Old English

[edit] Etymology

Germanic *aiwi-, from Proto-Indo-European *aiw- (“vitality”). Cognate with Old Saxon eo, Old High German io, eo (German je), Old Norse ei, ey (English aye), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (“age, eternity”).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adverb

ā

  1. ever, always

[edit] Descendants

[edit] Old French

[edit] Etymology 1

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] Etymology 2

Latin ad

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to
  2. towards
  3. belonging to
    fil a putain - son of a whore
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Descendants
  • French: à

[edit] Etymology 3

From the verb avoir, aveir

[edit] Verb

a

  1. Third-person singular present indicative of avoir

[edit] Old Irish

[edit] Pronoun

a

  1. his, its (triggers lenition)
  2. her, its
  3. their (triggers eclipsis)
    • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses 24a38:
      Ní epur a n-anman sund.
      I do not say their names here.
  4. all that, whatever

[edit] Polish

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Conjunction

a

  1. and; but
    A ty? - “And you?”
    Ty wolisz tabletki, a ja wolę zastrzyki. - “You prefer pills and I prefer injections.”

[edit] Portuguese

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɐ/, /ə/
  • (Brazil) IPA: /ɐ/ in stressed sylables before a nasal, and in some dialects (such as Carioca) word-finally; elsewhere IPA: /a/.
  • Hyphenation: a
  • Homophones: há, à

[edit] Etymology 1

From Latin a, form of A, from Etruscan 𐌀, from Ancient Greek Α (“alpha”), from Phoenician 𐤀 (“aleph”), from Egyptian

F1

.

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.
[edit] Related terms

[edit] Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese a, from Latin illa (with the disappearance of an initial l; compare Spanish la).

[edit] Article

a f.

  1. Feminine singular of article o.
    • 2005, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Rocco, page 219:
      Então, como foi a última festinha de Slughorn?
      So, how was the last Slughorn's little party?
    • 2007, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Rocco, page 147:
      Entregou a foto rasgada, [...]
      He handed over the torn photograph, [...]

[edit] See also

Portuguese articles (edit)
Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
Definite articles
(the)		 o a os as
Indefinite articles
(a, an; some)		 um uma uns umas

[edit] Etymology 3

From Old Portuguese a, from Latin ad (“to”), from Proto-Indo-European *ad- (“to, near, at”).

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to
    • 2005, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Rocco, page 143:
      Deixe-me mostrar a você...
      Let me show to you...
    • 2007, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Rocco, page 516:
      Não é bonito dizer isso a uma pessoa.
      It's not nice to say that to a person.
    Vamos a Paris! — “Let’s go to Paris!”
    a você — “to you” (***)
    a onze milhas — “eleven miles away” (*.*)
    a vinte metros — “twenty meters away” (*.*)
    a mim — “to me” (***)
    a ti — “to you” (***)
    a ele — “to him” (***)
    a ela — “to her” (***)
    a nós — “to us” (***)
    a vós — “to you” (***)
    a eles — “to them” (***)
    a elas — “to them” (***)
    à distância — “at a distance” (*.*)
    a cavalo — “on horseback” (*.*)
    a convite de — “at the invitation of” (***)
    uma viagem a Paris — “a trip to Paris” (*.*)
    fazer uma visita a um lugar (ou pessoa) — “to pay a visit to some place (or person)” (***)
    Meu coração pertence a você. = “My heart belongs to you.”
  2. at
    Onde vai ele a esta hora da noite? — “Where is he going at this time of night?”
  3. Indicates the direct object, mainly to avoid confusion when it, the subject, or both are displaced.
    A mim ele não engana. — “He doesn’t deceive me.” (literally, “To me he doesn’t deceive.”)
[edit] Usage notes

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

[edit] Synonyms
[edit] See also

[edit] 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.”
[edit] Usage notes
  • Becomes -la after verb forms ending in -r, -s, or -z, the pronouns nos and vos, and the adverb eis; the final letter causing the change disappears.
    After ver: Posso vê-la? — “May I see her/it?”
    After pôs: Quero pô-la ali. — “I want to put her/it there.”
    After fiz: Fi-la ficar contente. — “I made her/it happy.”
    After nos: Deu-no-la relutantemente. — “He gave her/it to us reluctantly.”
    After eis: Ei-la! — “Behold her/it!”
  • Becomes -na after a nasal diphthong: -ão, -am [ɐ̃w̃], -õe [õj], -em, -êm [ẽj].
    Detêm-na como prisioneira. — “They detain her/it as a prisoner.”
  • In Brazil it is being abandoned in favor of the nominative form ela.
    Eu a vi. → Eu vi ela. = “I saw her/it.”
[edit] See also
Portuguese personal pronouns (edit)
Number Person Subject
(nominative case)		 Objective
(accusative case)		 Prepositional
(dative case)		 com +
indirect object
(comitative case)
Singular First eu me mim comigo
Second tu, você, o senhor, a senhora te, você, o senhor, a senhora ti, você, o senhor, a senhora contigo
Third ele, ela lhe, o, a, se ele, ela, si consigo
Plural First nós nos nós conosco
Second vós, vocês, os senhores, as senhoras vos, vocês, os senhores, as senhoras vós, vocês, os senhores, as senhoras convosco
Third eles, elas lhes, os, as, se eles, elas, si com eles, com elas, consigo

[edit] Etymology 4

From homophone há

[edit] Verb

a

  1. Common misspelling of há.

[edit] Etymology 5

From homophone à

[edit] Contraction

a

  1. Common misspelling of à.

[edit] Rapa Nui

[edit] Particle

a

  1. possessive particle marking an alienable possession; of

[edit] Usage notes

Inserted before the relevant pronoun. Only for possessions like houses or beliefs that have the ability to no longer be yours; otherwise, use o.

[edit] Romanian

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] Usage notes

In Romanian, the letter a represents the phoneme /a/.

[edit] See also

[edit] Etymology 1

[edit] Article

a (feminine singular possessive article)

  1. of
    sora a lui Alexandru
    Alexandru's sister
    cartea a mea
    my book
[edit] Coordinate terms
  • al (masculine/neuter singular)
  • ai (masculine plural)
  • ale (feminine/neuter plural)

[edit] Etymology 2

From Latin ad.

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. (used with infinitive verbs) the infinitive marker: to
    A fi.
    To be.
  2. (archaic) at (now almost completely replaced by la)

[edit] Etymology 3

[edit] Verb

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

  1. modal auxiliary
    A văzut acest film?
    Has he/she seen this film?
[edit] Usage notes

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

[edit] Scots

[edit] Determiner

a

  1. Alternative spelling of aw.

[edit] Noun

a (uncountable)

  1. Alternative spelling of aw.

[edit] Scottish Gaelic

[edit] Pronoun

a

  1. his
  2. her
  3. its
  4. who, which, that

[edit] Usage notes

  • As his/its lenites the following word.
    a mhac - his son
    a mac - her son
  • As his/its is omitted if the following word begins with a vowel or fh followed by a vowel.
    athair - a father or his father (depending on the context)

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. Alternative form of do.

[edit] Particle

a

  1. to (precedes the infinitive form)
    Tha mi a' dol a chadal. - I'm going to sleep.
  2. Used before cardinal numbers which are not followed by a noun.
    A bheil agad a ceithir? - Do you have four?
  3. Used before the vocative form.
    Hallo, a Ruairidh. - Hello, Roderick.

[edit] Serbo-Croatian

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

See Translingual section.

[edit] Alternative forms

  • (uppercase): A

[edit] Letter

a (Cyrillic spelling а)

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

[edit] Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *a (“and, but”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ōd. Cognates include Old Church Slavonic а (a), Lithuanian õ (“and, but”) and Sanskrit आत् (ā́t, “so, then, afterwards”).

[edit] 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. (a 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 vijesti 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

[edit] Slovak

[edit] Conjunction

a

  1. and

[edit] Slovene

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Conjunction

a

  1. but

[edit] Spanish

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Spanish alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.
[edit] See also
  • (Latin script letters) [create]

[edit] Noun

a f. (plural a)

  1. Name of the letter A.
[edit] See also

[edit] Etymology 2

From Latin ad (“to”).

[edit] Alternative forms

  • (obsolete) á

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. to
    • 1605, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha1, Chapter I:
      Tenía en su casa una ama que pasaba de los cuarenta y una sobrina que no llegaba a los veinte, y un mozo de campo y plaza que así ensillaba el rocín como tomaba la podadera.
      He had in his house a housekeeper past forty, a niece under twenty, and a lad for the field and market-place, who used to saddle the hack as well as handle the billhook.
  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.”
[edit] Usage notes
  • (before words referring to people or personified objects): Personal a is not translated in English.

[edit] See also

[edit] Sranan Tongo

[edit] Noun

a

  1. it

[edit] Tagalog

[edit] Interjection

a

  1. ah: an exclamation of pity, admiration or surprise
    A! Kailan namatay ang iyong ina? — "Ah! When did your mother die?"

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

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

[edit] Tarantino

[edit] Preposition

a

  1. in
  2. at
  3. to

[edit] Turkish

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

  1. The first letter of the Turkish alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.
[edit] See also

[edit] Noun

a

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

[edit] See also

[edit] Welsh

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Pronunciation

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

[edit] Letter

a lower case (upper case A)

  1. â, the first letter of the Welsh alphabet

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] See also

  • (Latin script letters) [create]

[edit] Yoruba

[edit] Pronoun

a

  1. First-person plural subject pronoun: we
    a lo — "we went"

[edit] Zhuang

[edit] Noun

a

  1. crow
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=a&oldid=16231536"
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