là

See also: Appendix:Variations of "la"

French

Etymology

From Middle French la, from Old French la, from Latin illāc. The grave accent on the a was added to disambiguate with la (“the”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

• audio (France)

  (file)

• (Quebec), IPA^(key): (formal) /lɑ/, (informal) /lɔ/
• Homophone: la

Adverb

là

1. there
2. (used with être) here, present

   Je suis là.

   I'm here.

Antonyms

• ici

Derived terms

• là-bas
• là-haut
• par là

Further reading

• “là” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin illāc. Compare Spanish allá, Portuguese lá,

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/, [l̺ä]

• Audio (Italy)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a

Adverb

là

1. there

   Synonym: lì

Usage notes

See usage notes at lì.

Derived terms

• ehilà

Anagrams

• al

Further reading

• là in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

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Mandarin

Romanization

là (Zhuyin ㄌㄚˋ)

1. Pinyin transcription of 剌
2. Pinyin transcription of 嘑
3. Pinyin transcription of 拉
4. Pinyin transcription of 揧
5. Pinyin transcription of 擶
6. Pinyin transcription of 攋
7. Pinyin transcription of 楋
8. Pinyin transcription of 爉
9. Pinyin transcription of 瓎
10. Pinyin transcription of 瘌
11. Pinyin transcription of 癞
12. Pinyin transcription of 癤
13. Pinyin transcription of 翂
14. Pinyin transcription of 腊
15. Pinyin transcription of 臈
16. Pinyin transcription of 臘
17. Pinyin transcription of 萺
18. Pinyin transcription of 蜛
19. Pinyin transcription of 蝋
20. Pinyin transcription of 蝲
21. Pinyin transcription of 蠟
22. Pinyin transcription of 辢
23. Pinyin transcription of 辣
24. Pinyin transcription of 鑞, 镴
25. Pinyin transcription of 鬎
26. Pinyin transcription of 鯻
27. Pinyin transcription of 蜡

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Middle French

Adverb

là

1. (late Middle French) Alternative form of la (there; at a given location)

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Mochica

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laː/

Noun

là

1. water

Synonyms

• leng

References

• José Antonio Salas, Diccionario mochica-castellano, castellano-mochica (2002)

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Portuguese

Adverb

là (not comparable)

1. Obsolete spelling of lá

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Romansch

Etymology

From Latin illāc.

Adverb

là

1. there

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Scottish Gaelic

Noun

là m (genitive singular là, plural làithean)

1. Alternative spelling of latha

Usage notes

• Usually used for special days of the calendar.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• Là Bealltainn / Là Buidhe Bealltainn (“Beltane, May Day”)
• Là na Bliadhna Ùire (“New Year's Day”)

• Là nan Amadan (“April Fool's Day”)
• Là nan Trì Rìghrean (“Epiphany”)
• Là Nollaige (“Christmas Day”)

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Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [laː˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [laː˦˩]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [laː˨˩]

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

là

1. fine silk

Etymology 2

From Proto-Vietic *laː (“to work”). Doublet of làm.

Verb

là

1. (copula) to be

Usage notes

As a copula verb that is somewhat semantically empty. It is not perfectly equivalent to copulae in other languages (such as English be, French être, Japanese です (desu)), as it only links the subject to a noun; it is completely incompatible with adjectives. In other words, one can say Tôi là mẹ nó "I be his mother", but not *Tôi là ngốc "*I be silly". Teachers of foreign languages typically translate copulae of those languages to là, but also to thì (for linking to adjectives) to compensate this incompatibility.

See also

• bị
• được
• ở

Etymology 3

Verb

là

1. to iron

   Là trong "giặt là hơi" là là chứ không phải là là.

   The là in "giặt là hơi" means ironing, not being.