לו

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Compare Arabic لَوْ‏ (law).

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /lu/

Conjunction

לוּ • (lu)

1. if, if only
2. if only, I wish
   • 1985, Yaakov Gilad (lyrics), “בוקר יום ראשון [Sunday Morning]”, in עיניים שלי‏ [My Dearest]^[1], performed by Yehuda Poliker:

     ‏שֵׁש וָחֵצִי, שֶׁבַע, שְׁמוֹנֶה, בֹּקֶר יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן / לֹא רוֹצֶה לִשְׁמֹעַ רַדְיוֹ, לֹא לִקְרֹא עִתּוֹן / עוֹד מְעַט עוֹמֵד לָרֶדֶת גֶּשֶׁם שִׁטָּפוֹן / לוּ יָכֹלְתִּי עַכְשָׁו רָק לִישֹׁן‏‎

     Six-thirty, seven, eight, on a Sunday Morning / I don't want to listen to the radio, nor read a newspaper / Soon torrential rain will start coming down / If only I could just sleep right now

Usage notes

• The word is used, differently from אִם‏ (im) and אילו / אִלּוּ‏ (ílu), to describe states that can not happen.

Synonyms

• אִם‏ (im), אילו \ אֵלּוּ‏ (ílu)

Etymology 2

See ל־‏.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lo/
• Homophone: לא‏

Preposition

לוֹ • (lo)

1. Form of ל־‏ (l'-) including third-person masculine singular personal pronoun as object.