à

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "a"
à U+00E0, à
LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH GRAVE
Composition:a [U+0061] + ◌̀ [U+0300]
← ß
[U+00DF] 		Latin-1 Supplement á →
[U+00E1]

Translingual[edit]

Letter[edit]

à (upper case À)

  1. The letter a with a grave accent.

See also[edit]

Danish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Preposition[edit]

à (unofficial but common)

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

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French à.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio
    		(file)

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. indicates an approximate number
    Kook 2 à 3 aardappelen per persoon. ― Boil 2 or/to 3 potatoes per person.
  2. indicates the price etc. per piece
    10 blikjes à 0,06 € is 0,60 € in totaal. ― 10 cans at €0.06 a piece is €0.60 in total.

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French a, from Latin ad, from Proto-Indo-European *ád (“near; at”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

à (lower case, upper case À)

  1. A with grave accent, a letter used in French mostly to distinguish some homographs and in transliteration.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Use of accents on capital letters is variable. European usage is sometimes to omit accents, though the French Academy considers it incorrect.[1] This is partly due to the keyboard layout used in France. Quebec usage is to put accents on capitals.

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. to (destination)
    Je vais à Paris. ― I am going to Paris.
    aller au bout ― go to the end / go all the way
  2. to (until)
    Le spectacle sera de 18h à 21h. ― The show will be from 6 pm to 9 pm.
  3. on the, to (some directions)
    tournez à gauche ! ― turn [to the] left!
    tournez à droite ! ― turn [to the] right!
    Le vent vire au nord. ― The wind turns north.
    L'école est à gauche. ― The school is on the left.
  4. at (said of a particular time)
    Je pars à cinq heures ― I am leaving at five.
    à dix heures et quart ― at quarter past ten
  5. at, in, on (said of a particular place)
    à la maison ― at home
    à l'hôtel ― at the hotel
    au bar ― in the bar
    au bois ― in the woods
    J'habite à trois kilomètres d'ici. ― I live three kilometers from here.
  6. of (belonging to)
    C'est un ami à moi. ― This is a friend of mine.
    Cette voiture est à John. ― This is John's car.
    le chien à Marie ― Mary's dog [nonstandard]
  7. till, until (used in farewells)
    Salut, à demain. ― Bye, till tomorrow. / Bye, see you tomorrow.
    à plus tard ― see you later
  8. (cooking) cooked in or with
    Steak au poivre ― Steak with pepper sauce
  9. Used to make compound nouns to state what something is used for
    moulin à poivre ― pepper mill
    sac à dos ― backpack
    boite à musique ― music box
  10. (before an infinitive) to (used to express something not completed)
    Il y a de nombreuses choses à faire. ― There are many things to do.
    Il reste deux tâches à finir. ― There are two things left to finish.
    Il y a de la bière à boire. ― There's some beer to drink.
    l'équipe à battre ― the team to beat
  11. Used to describe a part of something, often translated into English as a compound adjective
    un animal à quatre pattes ― a four-legged animal
    une femme au visage pâle ― a pale-faced woman
    un homme à longue barbe ― a long-bearded man OR a man with a long beard
    une chemise à manches courtes ― a short-sleeved shirt
    une maison aux murs de brique ― a brick-walled house / a house with brick walls
  12. by
    peu à peu ― bit by bit
    minute à minute ― minute by minute
    jour à jour ― day by day
  13. or, to (used to express an approximate number)
    six à sept personnes ― six or seven people
    vingt à trente ans ― twenty/thirty years
    tous les cinq à six ans ― every five or six years
  14. Used to indicate the recipient of certain phrasal verb.
    mettre le feu à ― to set fire to
    clouer le bec à ― to shut (someone) up
    donner la chasse à ― to give chase to
    • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, volume 1, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter XL:
      Bien que la faim et le dénûment nous tourmentassent quelquefois, et même à peu près toujours, rien ne nous causait autant de tourment que d’être témoins des cruautés inouïes que mon maître exerçait sur les chrétiens. Chaque jour il en faisait pendre quelqu’un; on empalait celui-là, on coupait les oreilles à celui-ci […] .
      Even though hunger and destitution tormented us sometimes, and even almost always, nothing caused us as much torment as being witnesses to the unheard-of cruelties that my master exercised on the Christians. Every day, he made someone hang; they impaled that one, they cut the ears off of this one […] .
  15. with
    On peut remarquer, à ce propos, que ce n'est pas non plus dans des livre à prétention plus ou moins scientifique que Kraus avait l'habitude de chercher les instruments dont il avait besoin pour la déscription et l'expliquation. ― It may also be noticed, on this matter, that it is also not on books with more or less scientific pretentions that Kraus used to search for the instruments which he needed for description and explanation. ("Et Satan conduit le bal..." Kraus, Hitler & le nazisme, by Jacques Bouveresse, which is an introduction to the book La Troisième nuit de Walpurgis, by Karl Kraus, translated by Pierre Deshusses)

Usage notes[edit]

  • Expresses a report/ratio of place (to), time (at), possession (of or 's), means, manner, price.
  • Introduces a complement of indirect object or a complement of attribution, a complement of the name or adjective.
  • Some intransitive verbs in French use à before the indirect object, e.g. réussir à, jouer à. In these cases, the à is not translated into English.

Derived terms[edit]

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

à + article Combined form
à + le au
à + la à la
à + l' à l'
à + les aux

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.academie-francaise.fr/questions-de-langue#5_strong-em-accentuation-des-majuscules-em-strong

Further reading[edit]

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French à.

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. (dated) at (a specified price or rate of exchange)

Italian[edit]

Verb[edit]

à

  1. Obsolete spelling of ha, third-person singular present indicative of avere

Ladin[edit]

Verb[edit]

à

  1. third-person singular present indicative of avei - has
  2. third-person plural present indicative of avei - have

Ligurian[edit]

Verb[edit]

à

  1. third-person singular present indicative of avéi: has

Mandarin[edit]

Romanization[edit]

à (Zhuyin ㄚˋ)

  1. Pinyin transcription of 阾
  2. Pinyin transcription of 啊

Matal[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

à

  1. he, she

Middle French[edit]

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. (16th century onwards) Alternative form of a, at; to
    • 1537, Cicero (original author), Epistres familiaires traduictz de latin en francois et nouvellement imprimez link
      on les vend à Paris
      They are being sold in Paris

Ngam[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Cognate to Sar à

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

à

  1. initial interrogative particle on a question

References[edit]

Keegan, John (2014). The Eastern Sara Languages. Ceunca, Spain: Morkeg Books. p. 223.

  • Mudiwa, Olukayode (2001). An Analysis of Proto-Sara. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Addis Ababa Books. p. 156.

Norman[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin ad.

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. to, at

Noun[edit]

à m (plural às)

  1. at sign
    Synonyms: colînmachon, siez

Portuguese[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Contraction[edit]

à

  2. Contraction of a a.
    • 2000, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e a Câmara Secreta (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), Rocco, page 217:
      Quando tiver uma dúvida, vá à biblioteca.
      When you are in doubt, go to the library.
    Vou à praia.
    I’m going to the beach.

Quotations[edit]

For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:ao.

Preposition[edit]

à

  2. Misspelling of a.
  4. Clipping of à moda de.

Scottish Gaelic[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Irish ass, a (“out of”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs. Cognate of Latin ex-. Compare Irish as.

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. from
    Synonyms: bho, o

Usage notes[edit]

  • Before the definite article the form às is used instead.

Derived terms[edit]

  • The following prepositional pronouns:
Person Number Prepositional pronoun Prepositional pronoun (emphatic)
Singular 1st asam asamsa
2nd asad asadsa
3rd m às às-san
3rd f aiste aistese
Plural 1st asainn asainne
2nd asaibh asaibhse
3rd asta astasan

Further reading[edit]

  • Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
  • “7 a” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Spanish[edit]

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. Obsolete spelling of a

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French à.

Preposition[edit]

à

  1. ... to ...
    2 à 3 kg
    2 to 3 kilograms
  2. @, at, each
    2 st à 1 kr
    2 pieces at 1 krona each

References[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

à

  1. oh; I see

Particle[edit]

à

  1. Question particle.
    Thế à?
    Really?
    Cháu mới về à?
    So you've come back.
    Nhóm mày có bốn người thôi à?
    There's only four members in your group, isn't there?

Usage notes[edit]

  • In contrast to không which is used to make a yes-no question, à is used to seek confirmation, roughly equivalent to Japanese ね (ne) or the English use of tag questions. Compare to nhỉ, which is similar to Japanese よ (yo) in that it is used to make a light assertion or remark.
  • Not to be confused with ạ (politeness particle).
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