elles

See also: êlles and ellēs

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin illās, accusative feminine plural of ille.

Pronoun

elles f pl

1. they (female)

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illās, accusative feminine plural of ille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈe̞.ʎəs]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈe.ʎəs]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈe.ʎes]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Pronoun

elles

1. they (feminine)

See also

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

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

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

Danish

Noun

elles c

1. indefinite genitive plural of el

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl/, (before a vowel) /ɛl.z‿/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Grenoble)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Hérault)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Saint-Étienne)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Massy)):

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• Homophones: aile, ailes, elle, hèle, hèles, hèlent, L

Pronoun

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

1. they (female)
2. disjunctive form of elles; them (female)

   Coordinate term: eux

Related terms

French personal pronouns

number	person	gender	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	locative (at)	genitive (of)	disjunctive (tonic)1	emphatic reflexive
singular	first	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi	moi-même
	second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi	toi-même
	third	masculine	il2	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui	lui-même
		feminine	elle	la, l’				elle	elle-même
		indeterminate	on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça	—	—	—	—	—	—
		reflexive	—	se, s’5		—	—	soi	soi-même
plural	first	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous	nous-mêmes
	second6	—	vous	vous		—	—	vous	vous-mêmes, vous-même6
	third	masculine	ils7	les	leur	y	en	eux7	eux-mêmes7
		feminine	elles					elles	elles-mêmes

¹ The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d’, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
² Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
³ On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
⁴ The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
⁵ The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
⁶ Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
⁷ Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

Noun

elles f

1. plural of elle

Further reading

• “elles”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• selle

Hungarian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛlːɛʃ]
• Hyphenation: el‧les
• Rhymes: -ɛʃ

Verb

elles

1. (transitive) to learn by watching, to acquire by (close and often secret) observation (from someone: -tól/-től)
   • 1862, Imre Madách, The Tragedy of Man,^[1] translation by J.C.W. Horne,^[2] Iain MacLeod,^[3] and George Szirtes,^[4] Scene 1:

     Nehány golyóba összevissza gyúrva, / Most vonzza, űzi és taszítja egymást, / Nehány féregben öntudatra kél, / Míg minden megtelt, míg minden kihűlt, / És megmarad a semleges salak. – / Az ember ezt, ha egykor ellesi, / Vegykonyhájában szintén megteszi.

     That a few spheres this way or that revolve, / That one attracts another or repels, / That in a few worms dawns a consciousness, / Till all be fulfilled and till all grow cold / And only indistinguishable dust remain? / Why, man too, almost, if he should but learn, / Might in his kitchen seethe as good a broth

     Meanwhile this matter, kneaded into globes, / unfolds, attracts, repulses, whirls around, / till in some beast a conscious thought is kindled… / Then all fulfilled and all its heat expended, / indifferent, the neutral dust remains. / One day, man may himself acquire the knack / and plagiarize this crude experiment

     Are now screwed up into these tiny globes / That chase, attract or else repel each other, / Awaking a few worms to consciousness / Till all of space is tilled at last, grows cold, / And only the indifferent slag is left? / If man’s at all observant he’ll concoct / Some hash like this with his poor instruments.

Conjugation

Conjugation of elles

Click for archaic forms			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal
indica­tive	indica­tive	pre­sent	indef.	ellesek	ellesel	elles	ellesünk	ellestek	ellesnek
			def.	ellesem	ellesed	ellesi	ellessük	ellesitek	ellesik
			2nd obj	elleslek
		past	indef.	ellestem	ellestél	ellesett	ellestünk	ellestetek	ellestek
			def.	ellestem	ellested	elleste	ellestük	ellestétek	ellesték
			2nd obj	ellestelek
		future		Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. el fog lesni.
archaic preterite		indef.	ellesék	ellesél	ellese	ellesénk	ellesétek	ellesének
		def.	ellesém	elleséd	ellesé	ellesénk	ellesétek	ellesék
		2nd obj	ellesélek
archaic past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. elles vala, ellesett vala/volt.
archaic future	indef.	ellesendek	ellesendesz	ellesend	ellesendünk	ellesendetek	ellesendenek
	def.	ellesendem	ellesended	ellesendi	ellesendjük	ellesenditek	ellesendik
	2nd obj	ellesendelek
condi­tional	pre­sent	indef.	ellesnék	ellesnél	ellesne	ellesnénk	ellesnétek	ellesnének
		def.	ellesném	ellesnéd	ellesné	ellesnénk (or ellesnők)	ellesnétek	ellesnék
		2nd obj	ellesnélek
	past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. ellesett volna
sub­junc­tive	sub­junc­tive	pre­sent	indef.	ellessek	elless or ellessél	ellessen	ellessünk	ellessetek	ellessenek
			def.	ellessem	ellesd or ellessed	ellesse	ellessük	ellessétek	ellessék
			2nd obj	ellesselek
(archaic) past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. ellesett légyen
infinitive	ellesni		ellesnem	ellesned	ellesnie	ellesnünk	ellesnetek	ellesniük
other forms	verbal noun		present part.	past part.	future part.	adverbial participle		causative
	ellesés		elleső	ellesett	ellesendő	ellesve (ellesvén)		elleset
The archaic passive conjugation had the same -(t)at/-(t)et suffix as the causative, followed by -ik in the 3rd-person singular (and the concomitant changes in conditional and subjunctive mostly in the 1st- and 3rd-person singular like with other traditional -ik verbs).
The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem les el or el is les.

Potential conjugation of elles

Click for archaic forms			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal
indica­tive	indica­tive	pre­sent	indef.	elleshetek	elleshetsz	elleshet	elleshetünk	elleshettek	elleshetnek
			def.	elleshetem	ellesheted	ellesheti	elleshetjük	elleshetitek	elleshetik
			2nd obj	elleshetlek
		past	indef.	elleshettem	elleshettél	elleshetett	elleshettünk	elleshettetek	elleshettek
			def.	elleshettem	elleshetted	elleshette	elleshettük	elleshettétek	elleshették
			2nd obj	elleshettelek
archaic preterite		indef.	ellesheték	elleshetél	elleshete	ellesheténk	elleshetétek	elleshetének
		def.	elleshetém	elleshetéd	ellesheté	ellesheténk	elleshetétek	ellesheték
		2nd obj	elleshetélek
archaic past		Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. elleshet vala, elleshetett vala/volt.
archaic future	indef.	elleshetendek or ellesandhatok	elleshetendesz or ellesandhatsz	elleshetend or ellesandhat	elleshetendünk or ellesandhatunk	elleshetendetek or ellesandhattok	elleshetendenek or ellesandhatnak
	def.	elleshetendem or ellesandhatom	elleshetended or ellesandhatod	elleshetendi or ellesandhatja	elleshetendjük or ellesandhatjuk	elleshetenditek or ellesandhatjátok	elleshetendik or ellesandhatják
	2nd obj	elleshetendelek or ellesandhatlak
condi­tional	pre­sent	indef.	elleshetnék	elleshetnél	elleshetne	elleshetnénk	elleshetnétek	elleshetnének
		def.	elleshetném	elleshetnéd	elleshetné	elleshetnénk (or elleshetnők)	elleshetnétek	elleshetnék
		2nd obj	elleshetnélek
	past		Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. elleshetett volna
sub­junc­tive	sub­junc­tive	pre­sent	indef.	elleshessek	elleshess or elleshessél	elleshessen	elleshessünk	elleshessetek	elleshessenek
			def.	elleshessem	elleshesd or elleshessed	elleshesse	elleshessük	elleshessétek	elleshessék
			2nd obj	elleshesselek
(archaic) past		Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. elleshetett légyen
infinitive	(elleshetni)		(elleshetnem)	(elleshetned)	(elleshetnie)	(elleshetnünk)	(elleshetnetek)	(elleshetniük)
other forms	positive adjective			negative adjective		adverbial participle
	elleshető			elleshetetlen		(elleshetve / elleshetvén)
The prefix can split from the verb stem, e.g. nem leshet el or el is leshet.

Further reading

• elles in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• elles in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2026).

Latvian

Noun

elles f

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

Middle English

Alternative forms

• alles, ells, ills, elle

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛl(ə)s/

Adjective

elles

1. else

Adverb

elles

1. else

Conjunction

elles

1. else

Descendants

• English: else
• Yola: elles

References

• “elles, adj. (also as noun).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “elles, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “elles, conj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle French

Pronoun

elles f pl

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

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• ellest (dialectal)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛlːəs/

Adverb

elles

1. (conjunctive) else, otherwise

   Det lyt du gjera, elles går dette gale.

   You have to do that, else this will go wrong.

Synonyms

• annars

References

• “elles” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “elles”, in Norsk Ordbok: Ordbok over det Norske Folkemålet og det Nynorske Skriftmålet (in Norwegian Nynorsk), Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1950–2016, →ISBN.
• “elles” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *alljas

Adverb

elles

1. else, otherwise, in another manner
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"

     ...ac mē tōdæġ swā wundorlīce is ġelumpen þæt ic þurh nān þincg ne mæġ ġecnāwan hwæðer þys sȳ Ephesa byriġ þe elles ǣniġ ōþer;...

     But to-day it has befallen me so wonderfully that I cannot by any means recognise whether this be the city of the Ephesians or else any other.

References

• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “ELLES”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Portuguese

Pronoun

elles m pl

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

Noun

elles m

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

Spanish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈeʝes/ [ˈe.ʝes]

• IPA^(key): /ˈeʝes/ [ˈe.ʝes] (Spain, most of Latin America, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /ˈeʎes/ [ˈe.ʎes] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /ˈeʃes/ [ˈe.ʃes] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈeʒes/ [ˈe.ʒes] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈees/ [ˈe.es] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

 

• Rhymes: -eʝes

• Rhymes: -eʝes (Spain, most of Latin America, Equatorial Guinea)
• Rhymes: -eʎes (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eʃes (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -eʒes (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -ees (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: e‧lles

Pronoun

elles gender-neutral pl

1. (gender-neutral, neologism) they; a gender-neutral plural third-person personal pronoun
   • 2019, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Derechos humanos en la Argentina: Informe 2019, Siglo XXI Editores, →ISBN:

     Elles integraron los organismos junto a activistas que si bien no tenían parientes desaparecides se sumaron por trayectorias militantes y profesionales.

     They were part of the organizations along with activists who, although they had no relatives who had disappeared, joined them through militant and professional trajectories.

2. plural of elle

See also

Spanish personal pronouns

number	person			Nominative	Disjunctive	Dative	Accusative	Comitative
singular	1st			yo	mí	me		conmigo
	2nd	fam.		tú1, vos2	ti1, vos2	te		contigo
		m	for.	usted		le, se4	lo	—
		f					la
	3rd	m		él		le, se4	lo
		f		ella			la
		n		ello6			lo
plural	1st	m		nosotros		nos
		f		nosotras
	2nd	m	fam.5	vosotros		os
		f		vosotras
		m	for.	ustedes		les, se4	los
		f					las
	3rd	m		ellos		les, se4	los
		f		ellas			las
Reflexive				—	sí	se		consigo

1. Tuteo
2. Voseo
3. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g. se lo dije instead of *le lo dije).
4. Used primarily in Spain.
5. Only used in certain circumstances and rarely as a subject pronoun.

Noun

elles f pl

1. plural of elle

Yola

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛləs/

Adjective

elles

1. else

References

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