# les
## English
### Alternative forms

* lez

### Pronunciation

* (UK, US) IPA: /lɛz/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛz

### Noun

les (plural leses)
* (slang, colloquial, derogatory) Clipping of lesbian.

### Adjective

les (comparative more les, superlative most les)
* (slang, colloquial, derogatory) Clipping of lesbian.

### Anagrams

* SEL, SLE, Els, ELs, LSE, els, ELS, ESL

## Afrikaans
### Etymology

Inherited from Dutch les (“lesson”), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lɛs/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

les (plural lesse, diminutive lessie)
* lesson

## Aragonese
### Etymology

Derived from Latin ille (“that one”).

### Pronoun

les
* them (indirect object)

#### Synonyms

* lis

## Asturian
### Alternative forms

* lles (archaic)

### Etymology

Inherited from Latin illas.

### Article

les f pl (masculine sg el, feminine sg la, neuter sg lo, masculine plural los)
* (definite) the

## Catalan
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin illās, from ille.

#### Pronunciation

* (Balearic, Central) IPA: /ləs/
* (Valencia) IPA: /les/
* Rhymes: -es

#### Article

les f pl (masculine plural els, masculine singular el, feminine singular la)
* the; feminine plural definite article

#### Pronoun

les (enclitic and proclitic)
* them (feminine, direct object)

##### Declension

$^1$ 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-.

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin laesus.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈlɛs]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈləs]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈles]

#### Adjective

les (feminine lesa, masculine plural lesos, feminine plural leses)
* (law) harmed

##### Derived terms

* crim de lesa humanitat

##### Related terms

* il·lès

### Further reading

* “les” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Cornish
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Brythonic *lles, from Proto-Celtic *lexstus. Cognate with Welsh lles.

#### Noun

les m (plural lesow)
* advantage, benefit, gain, profit
    Synonym: budh
* utility, usefulness, importance, interest
* welfare

##### Derived terms

* dhe les (“advantageous, useful, interesting”)
* meur y les (“beneficial”)
* stat an les (“welfare state”)

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Celtic *lussus (“medicinal herb, vegetable”). Doublet of losow. Cognate with Welsh llys.

#### Noun

les m (plural lesyow)
* plant
    Synonym: losowen

##### Derived terms

* les an gog (“marigold”)

### Etymology 3

Inherited from Proto-Brythonic *lled, from Proto-Celtic *ɸletos. Cognate with Welsh lled.

#### Noun

les m (plural lesyow)
* width, breadth

##### Derived terms

* a-les (“apart”)
* skollya a-les (“disperse”)
* yn les (“from side to side”)

### Etymology 4
#### Noun

les f (plural lesow)
* Alternative form of lys (“court”)

### Etymology 5

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

#### Conjunction

les
* in case

## Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech les, from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈlɛs]
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: les
* Rhymes: -ɛs
* Homophone: lez

### Noun

les m inan
* forest
    Synonym: hvozd

#### Related terms

* lesačka
* lesař
* lesák
* lesník
* lesňák
* lesnatý
* lesní
* jak se do lesa volá, tak se z lesa ozývá

### Further reading

* “les”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “les”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “les”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Danish
### Noun

les c
* indefinite genitive singular of le

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lɛs/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: les
* Rhymes: -ɛs

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

#### Noun

les f (plural lessen, diminutive lesje n)
* course, lesson

##### Derived terms

* acteerles
* avondles
* bijles
* gymles
* gymnastiekles
* lesgeven
* leslokaal
* lesplan
* lesrooster
* lessen
* lesuur
* paardrijles
* rijles
* schoolles
* yogales
* zangles
* zwemles

##### Descendants

* Afrikaans: les
* → Caribbean Javanese: lès
* → Indonesian: les
* → Papiamentu: lès, les

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

les
* inflection of lessen:
** first-person singular present indicative
** (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
** imperative

### Anagrams

* els

### Further reading

* “les” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

## Franco-Provençal
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin illās.

#### Determiner

les f pl
* feminine plural of lo (“the”)

#### Pronoun

les f pl (ORB, broad)
* them (third-person plural feminine accusative)

##### See also

| singular | nominative | accusative | dative | tonic$^1$ | possessive$^2$ |
| 1st person | jo | mè | mè | mè | min |
| 2nd person | te | tè | tè | tè | tin |
| 3rd person masculine | il | lo / le | lui | lui | sin |
| 3rd person feminine | el | la | lyé | lyé | | sin |
| 3rd person neuter | o | o | y | — | sin |
| 3rd person reflexive | — | sè | sè | sè | | | sin |
| plural | nominative | accusative | dative | tonic$^1$ | possessive$^2$ |
| 1st person | nos | nos | nos | nos | noutro |
| 2nd person | vos | vos | vos | vos | voutro |
| 3rd person masculine | ils | los / les | lor | lor | lor |
| 3rd person feminine | els | les | lor / lyés | lor / lyés | | lor |
| 3rd person reflexive | — | sè | sè | sè | | | lor |
| $^1$ Disjunctive or object of a preposition. | $^1$ Disjunctive or object of a preposition. | $^2$ Generally preceded by a definite article. | $^2$ Generally preceded by a definite article. | $^2$ Generally preceded by a definite article. | $^2$ Generally preceded by a definite article. |

#### References

* les [3] in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
* les in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

### Etymology 2
#### Determiner

les m pl
* Alternative form of los, masculine plural of lo (“the”)

#### Pronoun

les m pl (ORB, broad)
* Alternative form of los m pl (“them”)

#### References

* les in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
* les in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French les, from Old French les, from Latin illōs m and illās f which are the accusative plurals of ille.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lɛ/, (in liaison) /lɛ.z‿/ ~ /le.z‿/
* IPA: /le/, (in liaison) /le.z‿/
* Audio:(file)
* Homophones: lé, lés, lez, lait, laits

### Article

les
* plural of le: the
* plural of la: the

#### Usage notes

* de les is never used: contracted into des.
* à les is never used: contracted into aux.

### Pronoun

les m pl or f pl
* plural of le: them
* plural of la: them

#### Related terms

$^1$ On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms). $^2$ Vous is also used as the polite singular form. $^3$ Ils and eux are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members. $^4$ These forms are also used as third person plural reflexive.

### References

* ↑ Dauzat, Albert with Jean Dubois, Henri Mitterand (1964) “le, la, les”, in Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique (in French), Paris: Librairie Larousse

### Further reading

* “les”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* sel

## Galician
### Verb

les
* second-person singular present indicative of ler

## German
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leːs/

### Verb

les
* (colloquial) first-person singular present of lesen
    Synonym: (standard) lese
* (colloquial) singular imperative of lesen
    Synonym: (standard) lies

## Hungarian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Ugric *läćɜ (“hiding place; lurk”). Cognates include Southern Mansi [script needed] (lǟš-), Northern Mansi [script needed] (lāś-).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈlɛʃ]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛʃ

### Noun

les (plural lesek)
* cover, hideaway, ambush (the place where one is concealed, in wait to attack by surprise, or the act of concealing oneself there)
    Synonyms: lesállás, leshely
    Hypernyms: búvóhely, rejtekhely, (hiding place in general) rejtek
* (hunting) hide, blind
* (soccer) offside
    Synonyms: lesállás, leshelyzet

#### Derived terms

* lesben áll

### Verb

les
* (transitive) to spy, peep, peek, pry
* (transitive) to stare, goggle, eye
* (ambitransitive) to cheat at a test by looking at someone else's work

#### Derived terms

* leselkedik
* lesés
(With verbal prefixes):
* átles
* beles
* beleles
* elles
* felles
* hátrales
* keresztülles
* kiles
* leles
* megles
* ráles

### References

* ↑ Entry #1792 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.
* ↑ les in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)

### Further reading

* (ambush): les in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* (to spy): les in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

## Icelandic
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lɛːs/
* Rhymes: -ɛːs

### Etymology 1
#### Noun

les n (genitive singular less, nominative plural les)
* (linguistics) lexeme (set of inflected forms taken by a single word)
* (computing) lexeme (individual instance of a continuous character sequence without spaces, used in lexical analysis)

##### Synonyms

* (lexeme): flettiorð

##### Derived terms

* lesgreining
* lesgreinir

##### See also

* tóki

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

les
* first-person singular of lesa (“to read”)
    Ég les mikið af þýskum bókum.I read a lot of German books.
* third-person singular of lesa (“to read”)
    Pálmi les alltaf sömu söguna, þótt hann eigi margar bækur.Pálmi always reads the same story, even though he has many books.

## Indonesian
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch les (“course, lesson”), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin lēctiō.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈlɛs]
* Hyphenation: lès

#### Noun

lès (plural les-les)
* (education, colloquial) cram school, private tuition

#### Verb

lès
* (education, colloquial) to cram, to study hard, to learn at cram school

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch lis (“reed”).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈlɛs]
* Hyphenation: lès

#### Noun

lès (plural les-les)
* rein

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈləs]
* Hyphenation: lês

#### Noun

lês (plural les-les)
* alternative spelling of lis

### Further reading

* “les” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

## Interlingua
### Pronoun

les
* (dative) to them

#### Usage notes

* Precedes conjugated verbs.
* Can be of mixed gender (not just masculine).

## Ladin
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin illas.

### Article

les f (plural)
* the

### See also

* l
* la, l'
* i

## Ladino
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish les, from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

### Pronoun

les m or f by sense (Hebrew spelling ליס)
* dative of eyos and eyas; (to) them, (for) them [ca. 1510]
** 19th century, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, chapter 42, in Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, editors, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi‎, Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 290:Los fraguadores les vino kolay de tomar todas las pyedras de ensima los muertos, syendo estas kevuroth eran de los primeros djidyos ke vinyeron de la Espanya.It came easy for the builders to take all the dead's tombstones, being that these graves belonged to the first Jews who came from Spain.

### References

* ↑ “les”, in Trezoro de la Lengua Djudeoespanyola.
* ↑ Dov Cohen and Ora (Rodrigue) Schwarzwald (2019 June 19) “Coṃpendio delas šeḥiṭót (Constantinople ca. 1510): The First Judeo-Spanish Printed Publication”, in Journal of Jewish Languages, volume 7, number 1, Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 48, 50

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* lese, lees, leas, leasse

### Etymology

Inherited from Old English lēas (“false, void, loose”).
Cognate with Middle High German lōs (“loose”), Old Swedish lø̄s (“loose”); a doublet of loos.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lɛːs/

### Adjective

les
* false; lying; deceptive

### Noun

les (uncountable)
* falsehood; a lie
** 15th c., “[The Creation]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 5, lines 120–121:He is so fayre, withoutten les, / he semys full well to sytt on des.He is so good, without falsehood; / (so) he's really suited to sit on a dais.
** c. 1480, “The Creation”, in The Towneley Plays, lines 158–159:We held with hym ther he saide leasse / And therfor have we all unpeasse.We stayed with him when he uttered untruth, / and therefore we all feel discord.
** c. 1480, “The Creation”, in The Towneley Plays, lines 193–195:Ye shall have joye and blis therin / Whils ye will kepe you out of syn, / I say withoutten lese.You'll have joy and tranquility within / if you keep yourself out of sin, / I say, without lies.

## Middle French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French les, from Latin illōs m and illās f

### Article

les m pl or f pl (masculine singular le, feminine singular la)
* the

#### Descendants

* French: les

## Norman
### Pronunciation

* Audio (Jersey):(file)

### Article

les pl (singular lé, and la)
* Alternative form of l's
    les boutons ― the nipples
    les êpices ― the spices
    les lédgeunmes ― the vegetables
    les ridgieaux ― the curtains
** 2013 March, Geraint Jennings, “Mar martello”, in The Town Crier‎, archived from the original on 13 March 2016, page 20:Dans les clios étout nou vait des tracteurs et des machinnes tandi qu'lé travas du fèrmyi r'prend san rhythme coumme tréjous.In the fields tractors and machines can be seen too as farm work picks up again as always.

#### Inflection
## Norwegian Bokmål
### Verb

les
* imperative of lese

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Verb

les
* present tense of lesa
* imperative of lesa

## Old Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (13th CE) /ˈlɛs/
* IPA: (15th CE) /ˈlɛs/

### Noun

les m inan
* forest
    Synonym: hvozd

#### Descendants

* Czech: les

### Further reading

* Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “les”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

## Old French
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin illas and illos.

### Article

les
* the (feminine plural oblique definite article)
* the (feminine plural nominative definite article)
* the (masculine plural oblique definite article)

#### Inflection

$^1$ These singular forms elide to l' before a vowel or non-aspirate h.

#### Descendants

* Middle French: les
** French: les

## Old Irish
### Etymology 1
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [lʲesʲ]

#### Pronoun

les (emphatic lessom)
* third-person singular masculine of la

##### Alternative forms

* less

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [l͈ʲes]

#### Noun

les m
* Alternative spelling of less (“benefit, advantage”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

## Old Slovak
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lě̑sъ. First attested in 1386.

### Noun

les m inan
* forest, woods (dense uncultivated tract of trees)

#### Descendants

* Pannonian Rusyn: лєс (ljes)
* Slovak: les

### References

* Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “les”, in Historický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA, →OCLC

## Old Spanish
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

### Pronoun

les m or f by sense
* dative of ellos and ellas; (to) them; (for) them
** c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 2v:eſtos angeles cõ q fablo abraã. vinieron a ſodoma e loth ſedia ala puerta dela cibdat. e violos e leuátos cótra elló. e omillos troa la tierra. e dixo les priego uos mios ſẽnores. Q̃ uẽgades acaſa de ur̃o ſieruo albergar.These angels to whom Abraham spoke came to Sodom, and Lot was at the city's gate. And he saw them and he got up to greet them and groveled with his face to the ground. And he said, “I beg you, my lords, come spend the night at your servant's house.”

#### Descendants

* Ladino: les, ליס
* Spanish: les

### References

* Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946) “les”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 303

## Rohingya
### Etymology

Compare with Bengali লেজ (lej).

### Noun

les
* tail

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Bulgarian лес (les).

### Noun

les n (plural lesuri)
* (Oltenia) thicket

#### Declension
### References

* les in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

## Serbo-Croatian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /lêːs/

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ (“tree, forest”).

#### Alternative forms

* lijȇs (Ijekavian)

#### Noun

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)
* coffin
* (regionally) lumber
* (regionally) forest, woods

##### Declension
### Etymology 2

Derived from German Löss.

#### Noun

lȇs m (Cyrillic spelling ле̑с)
* (geology) loess

## Slovak
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Slovak les, from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ʎes]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

les m inan (relational adjective lesný, diminutive lesík or lesíček, augmentative lesisko)
* forest, woods

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “les”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

## Slovene
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lěsъ.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /léːs/
* Rhymes: -eːs
* Hyphenation: les

### Noun

lẹ̑s m inan
| at | v lesu |
| to | v les |
| from | iz lesa |
* (uncountable) wood
    Synonyms: lesovina, lesnina, lesna snov
* (uncommon, uncountable) trees in a forest
    Synonyms: drevo, drev
* (usually in the plural, archaic or literary) forest, woods
    Synonyms: gozd, boršt, gmajna, gaj, gošča, gozdek, gozdič, gozdiček, gozdni labirint, hosta, lesovje, log, loza, šuma
* (Christianity, rare) cross
    Synonyms: križ, krucifiks

#### Declension

* stylistically marked

#### Derived terms

* biti čez les
* biti iz drugačnega lesa
* biti malo čez les
* biti v lesu
* blagoslovjeni les
* božji les
* celulozni les
* črni les
* dišeči les
* gadov les
* jamski les
* kačji les
* les dela
* les na panju
* lesẹ̑n
* lẹ̄sən
* lesenẹ́ti
* lesnīna
* nedeljni les
* nedeljski les
* okrogli les
* olesenẹ́ti
* pasji les
* popotni les
* pozni les
* rastni les
* rodni les
* sladki les
* stoječi les
* tehnični les
* vezani les
* volčji les
* zlesenẹ́ti

### Further reading

* “les”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
* “les”, in Termania, Amebis
* See also the general references

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /les/ [les]
* Rhymes: -es
* Syllabification: les

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish les, from Latin illīs, dative plural of ille.

#### Pronoun

les
* dative of ellos and ellas; to them, for them
    Los chicos están hambrientos, les llevaré algo de comer.The boys are hungry, I'll bring them something to eat.
* dative of ustedes; to you all, for you all (formal)
    Hijas, ¿quieren que les compre algo de la tienda?Daughters, do you want me to buy you all anything from the store?
* (leísmo, dialectal) accusative of ustedes; you all (formal)
    Synonyms: los, las
    ¿Necesitan que [yo] les ayude en algo?Do you need me to help you all with anything?
* (leísmo, dialectal, proscribed except in impersonal sentences with "se") accusative of ellos and ellas; them
    Synonyms: lo, la
    Se les considera unos tontos. [non-proscribed]They consider them fools.
    Ayer les vi cenando en un restaurante. [proscribed]Yesterday I saw them dining at a restaurant.
* (gender-neutral, neologism) dative of elles; to them, for them
    Les pedí que por favor hagan silencio.I asked them to please be quiet.

#### See also

| | | | | nominative | dative | accusative | disjunctive |
| first person | singular | singular | singular | yo | me | me | mí$^1$ |
| first person | plural | masculine$^2$ | masculine$^2$ | nosotros | nos | nos | nosotros |
| first person | plural | feminine | feminine | nosotras | nos | nos | nosotras |
| second person | singular | tuteo | tuteo | tú | te | te | ti$^1$ |
| second person | singular | voseo | voseo | vos | te | te | vos |
| second person | singular | formal$^3$ | formal$^3$ | usted | le, se$^4$ | lo/la$^5$ | usted |
| second person | plural | familiar$^6$ | masculine$^2$ | vosotros | os | os | vosotros |
| second person | plural | familiar$^6$ | feminine | vosotras | os | os | vosotras |
| second person | plural | formal/general$^3$ | formal/general$^3$ | ustedes | les, se$^4$ | los/las$^5$ | ustedes |
| third person | singular | masculine$^2$ | masculine$^2$ | él | le, se$^4$ | lo | él |
| third person | singular | feminine | feminine | ella | le, se$^4$ | la | ella |
| third person | singular | neuter | neuter | ello$^7$ | le, se$^4$ | lo | ello |
| third person | plural | masculine$^2$ | masculine$^2$ | ellos | les, se$^4$ | los | ellos |
| third person | plural | feminine | feminine | ellas | les, se$^4$ | las | ellas |
| third person | reflexive | reflexive | reflexive | — | se | se | sí$^1$ |
* Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
* Like other masculine Spanish words, masculine Spanish pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
* Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
* 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)
* Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
* Used primarily in Spain
* Used only in rare circumstances

### Etymology 2

The gender-neutral suffix -e replaces the gendered suffixes -a and -o.

#### Article

les gender-neutral pl
* (gender-neutral, neologism) the (plural)
    Les estudiantes están prestando atención a la clase.The students are paying attention to the class.

### Further reading

* “le”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
* “leísmo”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN

## Tok Pisin
### Etymology

Derived from English lazy.

### Adjective

les
* lazy
* tired, fed up

### Verb

les
* be lazy
* be tired, be fed up

## Welsh
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /leːs/
* Rhymes: -eːs

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from English lace.

#### Noun

les f (plural lesau, not mutable)
* lace (light fabric patterned with holes)

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle English lease, from Anglo-Norman les, from Old French lais, lez (“a lease”).

#### Noun

les f (plural lesoedd, not mutable)
* lease

##### Alternative forms

* lês (obsolete)

##### Derived terms

* lesddeiliad (“leaseholder”)

### Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

les
* Soft mutation of lles.

### Further reading

* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “les”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.