Wiktionary

als

See also: Als, ALS, ALs, åls, al's, and -āls

English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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als

  1. plural of al

Etymology 2

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From Middle English als, variant of alse, alsa, also, from Old English eallswā, from Proto-West Germanic *allswā. More at also.

Adverb

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als (not comparable)

  1. Obsolete form of also.

Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Contraction of a (“to, at”) els (“the (masculine plural)”)

Contraction

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als

  1. to the, at the, toward the (masculine plural)

Cornish

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Alternative forms

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  • (Standard Cornish) âls

Etymology

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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

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Noun

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als f (plural alsyow)

  1. (Standard Written Form) cliff

Dutch

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Alternative forms

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  • (colloquial form in the Netherlands) as

Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): /ɑ(l)s/, [ɑ(ɫ)s]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: als
  • Rhymes: -ɑls

Conjunction

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als

  1. (subordinating) if, when
    Synonym: indien
    Als je die knop indrukt, gaat de computer uit.
    If you push that button, the computer will turn off.
  2. when, as soon as
    Synonym: wanneer
    Als het regent worden alle daken nat.
    When it rains all the roofs get wet.
  3. (Suriname, proscribed in the Netherlands) if, whether
    Synonym: of
    • 1978 November 4, “"CRUDEN IS EEN SLECHT ADVISEUR" ZEGT EENDRACHT”, in Vrije Stem: onafhankelijk weekblad voor Suriname‎[1], page 6:
      Ik weet niet als de heer Ramon Cruden de Minister van Arbeid werkelijk zal kunnen adviseren
      I don't know whether Mr Ramon Cruden will be truly able to advise the Minister of Labour
    • 2021 April 29, Wilfred Leeuwin, “Einde in zicht in geruchtmakende strafzaak Centrale Bank”, in De Ware Tijd‎[2], retrieved 2 May 2021:
      Het document is in opdracht van het OM samengesteld om aan te tonen als de gesloten contracten tussen de CBvS en het Belgische bedrijf Clairfield rechtmatig zijn, als de bedragen die contractueel zijn afgedwongen gangbaar zijn naar internationale maatstaven en als de verdachten wel of geen financieel voordeel hebben gehad aan deze deals.
      The document was commissioned by the prosecution to determine whether the contracts concluded between the Central Bank of Suriname and the Belgian company Clairfield were lawful, whether the sums enforced in the contracts were customary by international standards and whether or not the suspects benefited financially from these deals.

Preposition

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als

  1. like, as [with nominative]
    Hij huilde als een kind.
    He cried like a baby.
  2. even ... als: as ... as [with nominative]
    Hij is even groot als ik.
    He is as tall as me.
  3. (nonstandard) than [with nominative]
    Synonym: dan
    Hij is groter als jij.
    He is bigger than you.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Afrikaans: as, als
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: asi
  • Javindo: als
  • Jersey Dutch: ās
  • Negerhollands: a, es, as
  • Petjo: als
  • Skepi Creole Dutch: as

Usage notes

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"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

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German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German alles, from Old High German also, alsō (“as, like”); equivalent to all + so. Compare English as.

Pronunciation

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Conjunction

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als

  1. (subordinating, referring to time of occurrence) at (approximately) the same moment; when; while; as
    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.
    Synonyms: (now rare in isolation) da, (obsolete) weil
    Near-synonyms: während, dieweil, (now rare) indem
  2. (used with a comparison or as an exception) than
    Zwei ist größer als eins. ― Two is greater than one.
    Die Kopie sieht anders aus als das Original. ― The copy looks different than the original.
    Er sagt nichts anderes als die Wahrheit. ― He tells nothing other than the truth.
    Synonyms: denn, weder, (proscribed) wie
  3. (nonstandard after the 19th century) To the same degree that, as (distinguished from the aforementioned use in that comparison was between equals)
    • 1837 January 7, Friedrich Hebbel, Tagebücher, An Emil Rousseau in Heidelberg – München:
      Wir sind immer so klein, als unser Glück, aber auch so groß, als unser Schmerz.
      We are always as small as our luck but so great as our pain is.
    Synonym: (standard) wie
  4. 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.
  5. as if
    Synonyms: als wenn, wie wenn, als ob (but these all have opposite verb position)
    • 1918, Elisabeth von Heyking, Aus dem Lande der Ostseeritter, in Zwei Erzählungen, Phillipp Reclam jun., page 100:
      Es war als rängen beständig zwei Mächte um sie, als würde sie wehrlos von ihnen hin und her gerissen.
      It was as if two powers struggled over her continuously, as if she were torn to and fro by them defenselessly.
  6. (after negative pronoun) but, other than
    • 1918, Meinrad Lienert, Zürcher Sagen:
      Doch die zwei Königstöchter Hildegard und Berta gewahrten nichts als den weissen Hirsch […].
      But the two princesses Hildegard and Berta saw nothing but the white hart.
    Synonyms: es sei denn, außer, mit Ausnahme (von), wie

Usage notes

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  • Als in the sense of “than” does not govern case. The case of the standard of comparison depends on its syntactic function:
Sie liebt das Kind mehr als ihr Mann. (nominative)
She loves the child more than her husband does.
Sie liebt das Kind mehr als ihren Mann. (accusative)
She loves the child more than she loves her husband.
  • 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

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  • “als” in Duden online
  • “als” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Gothic

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Romanization

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als

  1. Romanization of 𐌰𐌻𐍃

Hunsrik

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Etymology

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From Middle High German alles, from Old High German also, alsō (“as, like”). Compare German als.

Pronunciation

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Conjunction

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als

  1. (subordinating, referring to time of occurrence) at (approximately) the same moment; when; while; as
    Alst-du dort geschaff host
    When you worked there
  2. as; like
    Schwarzebeere sin aach als Schabutikaave gekennd.
    Jaboticabas are also known as jaboticabas.

Synonyms

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Further reading

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Icelandic

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Noun

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als

  1. indefinite genitive singular of alur

Luxembourgish

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Etymology

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From Middle High German als, from Old High German alsō, equivalent to all + esou.

Pronunciation

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Conjunction

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als

  1. as
    Hatt schafft als Polizistin an engem klengen Duerf.
    She works as a policewoman in a little village.

Occitan

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Pronunciation

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Contraction

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als

  1. Contraction of a los.

Old French

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Contraction

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als

  1. Contraction of a les (“to the”).

Swedish

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Noun

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als

  1. indefinite genitive singular of al

Anagrams

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