Definitions and meaning of als
als
English
Etymology 1
Noun
als
- plural of al
Etymology 2
From Middle English als, variant of alse, alsa, also, from Old English eallswā, from Proto-West Germanic *allswā. More at also.
Adverb
als (not comparable)
- Obsolete form of also.
Anagrams
- -sal, -sal-, ASL, LAs, LSA, SAL, SLA, Sal, a/s/l, asl, las, sal, sal-
Catalan
Etymology
Contraction of a (“to, at”) els (“the (masculine plural)”)
Contraction
als
- to the, at the, toward the (masculine plural)
Cornish
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Brythonic *alt, from Proto-Celtic *altos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós, from *h₂el-.
Cognate with Welsh allt, Breton aod, Irish alt, Latin altus, Old High German alt.
Pronunciation
Noun
als f (plural alsyow)
- (Standard Written Form) cliff
Dutch
Alternative forms
- (colloquial form in the Netherlands) as
Etymology
From Middle Dutch alse, an unstressed form of also (modern alzo). The sense “whether” is possibly a semantic loan from Sranan Tongo efu (“if, when; if, whether”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɑ(l)s/, [ɑ(ɫ)s]
-
- Hyphenation: als
- Rhymes: -ɑls
Conjunction
als
- (subordinating) if, when
- Synonym: indien
- Als je die knop indrukt, gaat de computer uit. ― If you push that button, the computer will turn off.
- when, as soon as
- Synonym: wanneer
- Als het regent worden alle daken nat. ― When it rains all the roofs get wet.
- as though, as if
- (Suriname, proscribed in the Netherlands) if, whether
- Synonym: of
Preposition
als
- like, as [with nominative]
- Hij huilde als een kind. ― He cried like a baby.
- even ... als: as ... as [with nominative]
- Hij is even groot als ik. ― He is as tall as me.
- (nonstandard) than [with nominative]
- Synonym: dan
- Hij is groter als jij. ― He is bigger than you.
Derived terms
Descendants
- Afrikaans: as, als
- Berbice Creole Dutch: asi
- Javindo: als
- Jersey Dutch: ās
- Negerhollands: a, es, as
- Petjo: als
- Skepi Creole Dutch: as
Usage notes
"Als" must be followed by S-O-V word order. For if/then statements, V-S-O word inversion must be used in the following clause whether the superfluous "dan" is included or not.
Anagrams
German
Etymology
From Middle High German alles, from Old High German also, alsō (“as, like”); equivalent to all + so. Compare English as.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /als/, [als]
-
- Rhymes: -als, -alts
- Homophone: Alls
Conjunction
als
- (subordinating, referring to time of occurrence) at (approximately) the same moment, when, while, as
- Synonyms: (now rare in isolation) da, (obsolete) weil
- Near-synonyms: während, dieweil, (now rare) indem
- Als er ankam, öffnete sie die Tür. ― When he arrived, she opened the door.
- Als wir jung waren, spielten wir im Wald. ― We played in the forest when we were young.
- (used with a comparison or as an exception) than
- Synonyms: denn, weder, (proscribed) wie
- Zwei ist größer als eins. ― Two is greater than one.
- Die Kopie sieht anders aus als das Original. ― The copy looks different from the original.
- Er sagt nichts anderes als die Wahrheit. ― He tells nothing other than the truth.
- (nonstandard after the 19th century) To the same degree that, as (distinguished from the aforementioned use in that comparison was between equals)
- Synonym: (standard) wie
- as; like; in the function of; in the form of
- Als Polizist muss ich es tun. ― As a policeman, I must do it.
- Wir sind Feinde, aber im Moment müssen wir uns als Freunde verhalten. ― We are enemies, but for now we must act like friends.
- Sie verkleidete sich als Krankenschwester, um das Krankenhaus zu betreten. ― She disguised herself as a nurse to enter the hospital.
- as if
- Synonyms: als wenn, wie wenn, als ob (but these all have opposite verb position)
- (after negative pronoun) but, other than
- Synonyms: es sei denn, außer, mit Ausnahme (von), wie
Usage notes
- Als in the sense of “than” does not govern case. The case of the standard of comparison depends on its syntactic function:
- Als in the sense of “as, like” is claimed by some traditional grammars to require the nominative case: Er verkleidet sich als spanischer Stierkämpfer. (“He dresses himself up as a Spanish bullfighter.”) This may indeed be the most common usage in reflexive constructions, such as in the example given (although als spanischen Stierkämpfer is acceptable). The mechanical use of the nominative, however, is often ungrammatical by any standards of common usage: Sie kannte ihn schon als jungen Mann (“She knew him already as a young man”; the nominative als *junger Mann would be odd and indeed would suggest the meaning that she knew him when she was a young man). Thus, the same general rule applies as given above.
- Als in the sense of “as” vs. “than” is retained in derived constructions other than the simile: You see the conjunctions als ob, als wenn, and with inverted syntax als, and als following after sowohl, much commoner than wie though this be impeccable. By the same token, als referring to time of occurrence can be replaced by wie at least in the colloquials. This means that probably all senses can be replaced by wie, save the meaning “in the function of”, in which wie would be incomprehensible.
Further reading
- “als” in Duden online
- “als” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Gothic
Romanization
als
- romanization of 𐌰𐌻𐍃
Hunsrik
Etymology
From Middle High German alles, from Old High German also, alsō (“as, like”). Compare German als.
Pronunciation
Conjunction
als
- (subordinating, referring to time of occurrence) at (approximately) the same moment; when; while; as
- as; like
Synonyms
Further reading
- Online Hunsrik Dictionary
Icelandic
Noun
als
- indefinite genitive singular of alur
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From Middle High German als, from Old High German alsō, equivalent to all + esou.
Pronunciation
Conjunction
als
- as
Occitan
Pronunciation
Contraction
als
- contraction of a los
Old French
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Contraction
als
- contraction of a les (“to the”)
Swedish
Noun
als
- indefinite genitive singular of al
Anagrams
Source: wiktionary.org