te

See also: Appendix:Variations of "te"

Languages (94)

Translingual • English

---

Afrikaans • Äiwoo • Akan • Albanian • Aragonese • Asturian • Bangi • Basque • Blagar • Breton • Catalan • Classical Nahuatl • Coatepec Nahuatl • Cornish • Czech • Dalmatian • Danish • Deg Xinag • Dutch • Estonian • Ewe • Fala • Faroese • Finnish • Franco-Provençal • French • Galician • Haitian Creole • Hawaiian • Hungarian • Hunsrik • Icelandic • Ido • Indonesian • Irish • Italian • Japanese • Kalasha • Kholosi • Kikuyu • Ladin • Latin • Latvian • Lingala • Lithuanian • Lower Sorbian • Lutuv • Maltese • Manchu • Mandarin • Manx • Māori • Meriam • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle French • Mohawk • Neapolitan • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Occitan • Old English • Old French • Pali • Papiamentu • Phuthi • Polish • Portuguese • Rapa Nui • Romani • Romanian • Romansh • Sango • Serbo-Croatian • Sicilian • Spanish • Sranan Tongo • Sumerian • Swedish • Tagalog • Tahitian • Tokelauan • Tongan • Turkish • Turkmen • Tuvaluan • Veps • Volapük • Welsh • West Makian • White Hmong • Zia

---

Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Telugu or Telugu తెలుగు (telugu).

Symbol

te

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Telugu.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Telugu terms

English

Etymology 1

Sense 1: Altered from si in the 19th century to prevent having two notes of the musical scale starting with the same letter, to become te and later ti.

Sense 2: The vowel of ti then changed to 'e' to signify a flattened note.

Pronunciation

• Sense 1:
  • IPA^(key): /tiː/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -iː
  • Homophones: T, tea, tee, ti
• Sense 2:
  • IPA^(key): /teɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

Noun

te (plural tes)

1. (music, obsolete) In solfège, the seventh note of a major scale (the note B in the fixed-do system): ti.

   Synonym: si

2. (music) In solfège, the lowered seventh note of a major scale (the note B-flat in the fixed-do system): ta.

   Synonyms: ta, B-flat, li

Etymology 2

Noun

te (plural tes)

1. The name of the Cyrillic script letter Т / т.

Anagrams

• -et, ET, Et, et

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch te.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

te

1. indicating excess: too

Preposition

te

1. modifying an infinitive verb: to
2. located at, in

Äiwoo

Verb

te

1. to see

References

• Ross, M., & Næss, Å. (2007), “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Akan

Alternative forms

• tse (Fante)

Pronunciation

• Tone: L

Verb

te

1. to understand, perceive
2. to hear

References

• Christaller, Johann Gottlieb (1881), A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tshi (Chwee, Tw̌i)‎^[3], Basel, page 476

Albanian

Alternative forms

• ke — Gheg dialects

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *te-k(u), from Proto-Indo-European *to- (“it”). Governs the nominative determinative, due to its relatively recent use as a preposition and its origin as a shortened form of Albanian *te-k(u).

Preposition

te (+ nominative)

1. at

   Unë jam te pijetorja.

   I'm at the bar.

2. to
3. (with a human referent) at (someone's) place

   Jemi te unë.

   We're at my place.

Synonyms

• tek

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin te. Akin to Spanish te and French te.

Pronoun

te

1. Second-person singular dative, accusative and prepositional pronoun; you

Usage notes

• Takes the form t' before verbs beginning with vowel sounds.

See also

Aragonese personal pronouns

				nominative	disjunctive	dative	accusative
first person	singular			yo	me, m'2
	plural	masculine		nusatros1.1		nos1.6
		feminine		nusatras1.1
second person	singular	familiar		tú	te, t'2
		formal		vusté,1.2 vos
	plural	familiar	masculine	vusatros1.3		vos, tos3
			feminine	vusatras1.3
		formal		vustés,1.2 vos
third person	singular	masculine		él1.4		le1.7	lo,1.8 l'2
		feminine		ella1.5			la
	plural	masculine		els, ellos1.4		les1.7	los1.9
		feminine		ellas1.5			las
	reflexive			—		se, s'2

1. The forms shown in the table are the most widespread ones. Some varieties use different forms:
   1. nusotros/as (Ansotano, Cheso, Somontanos) and nusaltros/as (Benasquese and Belsetán).
   2. usté(s) (Benasquese), ustet(z) (Ansotano), vustet(z) (Tensino, Somontanos)
   3. vusotros/as (Ansotano, Cheso, Somontanos) and vusaltros/as (Benasquese and Belsetán).
   4. ell(s) (Benasquese) and er(s) (Belsetán).
   5. era(s) (Belsetán).
   6. mos (Ribagorçan). Before third-person pronouns and the adverbial pronoun en the contracted form mo' is used.
   7. li(s) (Cheso, Tensino).
   8. el (Ribagorçan). The contracted form l' is used before verbs beginning with vowel sounds and 'l after pronouns ending in vowels and no (“no, not”).
   9. es, els (Ribagorçan). These forms are contracted to 's and 'ls after pronouns ending in vowels and no (“no, not”).
2. The contracted forms are used before verbs beginning with vowel sounds.
3. In Ribagorçan the contracted form to' is used before third-person pronouns and the adverbial pronoun en.

References

• “te”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin tē, from tū.

Pronoun

te

1. you (second-person singular direct pronoun)
2. you (second-person singular indirect pronoun)

Bangi

Adverb

te

1. no

Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/, [t̪e̞]

Etymology 1

Noun

te inan

1. tea

Etymology 2

Noun

te inan

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

Declension

Declension of te (inan V-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	te	tea	teak	teok
ergative	tek	teak	teek	teok
dative	teri	teari	teei	teoi
genitive	teren	tearen	teen	teon
comitative	terekin	tearekin	teekin	teokin
causative	terengatik	tearengatik	teengatik	teongatik
benefactive	terentzat	tearentzat	teentzat	teontzat
instrumental	tez	teaz	teez	teotaz
inessive	tetan	tean	teetan	teotan
locative	tetako	teko	teetako	teotako
allative	tetara	tera	teetara	teotara
terminative	tetaraino	teraino	teetaraino	teotaraino
directive	tetarantz	terantz	teetarantz	teotarantz
destinative	tetarako	terako	teetarako	teotarako
ablative	tetatik	tetik	teetatik	teotatik
partitive	terik	—	—	—
prolative	tetzat	—	—	—

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) a, be, ze, de, e, efe, ge, hatxe, i, jota, ka, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, ku, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve bikoitz, ixa, i greko, zeta

Blagar

Noun

te

1. wood, tree

References

• A. Schapper, The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1
• The Rosetta Project, Blagar Swadesh List
• Stokhof (1975)

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *ti, from Proto-Celtic *tū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognate to Welsh ti.

Pronoun

te

1. you (singular)

See also

Breton personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		me	ni
2nd person		te	c’hwi
3rd person	m	eñ	int
	f	hi

Catalan

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈte]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

• Homophone: té
• Rhymes: -e

Noun

te f (plural tes)

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

Etymology 2

From Latin tē (accusative of tū).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [tə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [te]

Pronoun

te (enclitic, contracted 't, proclitic et, contracted proclitic t')

1. you, thee (direct or indirect object)
2. yourself (reflexive pronoun)

Usage notes

• -te is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs ending with a consonant or ⟨u⟩, or between some adverbs/pronouns and a verb. In some varieties of Catalan (Balearic/Valencian) it can also occur in sentence-initial position.

  Puc ajudar-te? ― Can I help you?

  Mou-te! ― Move!

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

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-.

Related terms

• et
• tu

Etymology 3

Originally from Hokkien 茶 (tê).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈtɛ]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈte]
• Rhymes: -ɛ

Noun

te m (plural tes)

1. a tea plant (Camellia sinensis)
2. tea; the product made from the leaves of the tea plant
3. tea; a light afternoon meal at which tea is commonly served

Derived terms

• joc de te
• planta del te
• tetera

Further reading

• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “te”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
• “te”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “te”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Classical Nahuatl

Pronoun

te

1. alternative spelling of teh

Coatepec Nahuatl

Noun

te

1. stone

Cornish

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): /tɛː/

• Audio (Revived Middle Cornish):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From English tea, from Dutch thee.

Noun

te m (plural teow)

1. tea

Derived terms

• chek te (“tea kettle”)
• hanaf te (“teacup”)
• lo de (“teaspoon”)
• loyas te (“teaspoonful”)
• pott te (“teapot”)
• prys te (“tea time”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Brythonic *ti, from Proto-Celtic *tū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.

Alternative forms

• ty (Standard Written Form)

Pronoun

te

1. (Standard Cornish) alternative form of ty; you (informal second person singular pronoun), thou, thee

Mutation

Mutation of te

radical	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
te	de	the	unchanged	unchanged

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

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɛ]
• Rhymes: -ɛ

Verb

te

1. (informal) Combined form of to +‎ je

See also

• totě

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin tū.

Pronoun

te

1. (second-person singular pronoun) you, thou

Related terms

• toi

See also

• ju
• jal, jala
• nu
• vu
• jali, jale

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈteːˀ/, [ˈtˢe̝ːˀ], [ˈtsʰe̝ˀ]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch thee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê, “tea”), compare English tea, German Tee, French thé.

Alternative forms

• the (unofficial since 1872, but still common)

Noun

te c (singular definite teen, plural indefinite teer)

1. tea (plant) (Camellia sinensis)
2. tea (the dried leaves from the tea plant, also parts from other plants)
3. (uncountable) tea (a beverage made from tea leaves, also similar beverages made from other plants)

Declension

Declension of te

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	te	teen	teer	teerne
genitive	tes	teens	teers	teernes

Derived terms

• citronte
• hybente
• kamillete
• myntete
• teblad
• tebrev
• tedåse
• tehandel
• tekande
• tekop
• tekrus
• teplantage
• teplante
• teplukker
• tepotte
• tesalon
• teselskab
• tesi
• tesort
• tevand
• urtete

Descendants

• → Faroese: te

References

• “te,1” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “Te,1” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Etymology 2

From Old Norse tjá, from Proto-Germanic *tīhaną (“to show”), cognate with Icelandic tjá, Faroese tíggja, Swedish te, German zeihen (“to accuse”). The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”), which is also the source of Latin dīcō (“to say”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to show”).

Verb

te (present tense ter, past tense teede, past participle teet)

1. (reflexive) behave

Conjugation

Conjugation of te

active passive present ter — past teede — infinitive te — imperative te — participle present teende past teet (auxiliary verb have) gerund teen

Derived terms

• bete

References

• “te,2” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “te,3” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Deg Xinag

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *tuˑ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʰe/

Noun

te

1. water

References

• S. Hargus, Vowel quality and duration in Deg Xinag

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch te, from Old Dutch te, ti, from Proto-Germanic *ta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

te

1. too (indicating excess)

   Te veel is nooit goed! ― Too much is never good!

   Te gek! ― Far out! (literally, “Too crazy!”)

Derived terms

• tekort
• teveel

Descendants

• Negerhollands: tu, tee
• Petjo: te

Preposition

te

1. (modifying an infinitive verb) to

   Er is iets te eten ― there is something to eat

   Het is te doen ― it is doable, it can be done

2. located at, in, on

   Te Amsterdam ― in Amsterdam.

   En zo rijden we te paard ― and so we ride on horseback.

Usage notes

This preposition used to govern the dative case. It also fused with the dative forms of the definite article:

• (at, in): ter = te + der for feminine singular.
• (at, in): ten = te + den in all other cases.

Combinations with the nominative form of the article, like *te het or *te de have never become part of the language. The collapse of the inflection system and the related demise of the distinction between masculine and feminine gender (for most speakers) has pushed this preposition into partial disuse. It does however occur in a fair number of idiomatic expressions, often with fossilized case endings, e.g.:

te elfder ure. ― at the eleventh hour

te eigen bate ― for one's own profit

(Elfder, ure and bate are dative forms of elfde, uur and baat respectively.)

Derived terms

• te over
• te pas en te onpas
• te voet
• te weten
• te zijner tijd
• temeer
• ten
• ter
• terecht

Descendants

• Jersey Dutch: te
• Negerhollands: toe

Article

te

1. (archaic) in idiom; a form of the definite article de

   Te drommel

   by Jove.

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *tek.

Pronoun

te (short form of teie)

1. you (plural and polite form)

Declension

Declension of te
2nd person	singular		plural
	long	short	long	short
nominative	sina	sa	teie	te
genitive	sinu	su	teie	te
partitive	sind		teid
illative	sinusse	susse		teisse
inessive	sinus	sus		teis
elative	sinust	sust		teist
allative	sinule	sulle		teile
adessive	sinul	sul		teil
ablative	sinult	sult		teilt
translative	sinuks	–	teieks	teiks
terminative	sinuni	–	teieni	–
essive	sinuna	–	teiena	–
abessive	sinuta	–	teieta	–
comitative	sinuga	suga	teiega	–

See also

Estonian personal pronouns

		singular		plural
		long	short	long	short
1st person		mina	ma	meie	me
2nd person	familiar	sina	sa	teie	te
	polite	Teie	Te
3rd person	animate	tema	ta	nemad	nad
	inanimate	see		need

Ewe

Noun

te

1. paternal aunt
2. yam

Preposition

te

1. under

Verb

te

1. to compact
2. to compress
3. to sting
4. to swell

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese te, from Latin tē.

Pronoun

te

1. Second person singular dative and accusative pronoun; you

Usage notes

• Takes the form -ti when suffixed to an impersonal verb form.

See also

Fala personal pronouns

			nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
singular	first person		ei	me, -mi		mi
	second person		tú	te, -ti		ti
	third person	m	el	le, -li	uLV, oM	el
		f	ela		a	ela
plural	first person	common	nos	musL nusLV nos, -nusM		nos
		m	noshotrusM			noshotrusM
		f	noshotrasM			noshotrasM
	second person	common	vos	vusLV vos, -vusM		vos
		m	voshotrusM			voshotrusM
		f	voshotrasM			voshotrasM
	third person	m	elis	le, -li	usLV, osM	elis
		f	elas		as	elas
third person reflexive			—	se, -si		sí

Dialects:  ^L Lagarteiru   ^M Mañegu   ^V Valverdeñu

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[4], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 265

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʰeː/
• Rhymes: -eː
• Homophone: teg

Etymology 1

Noun

te n (genitive singular tes, plural te)

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

Declension

n4	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	te	teið	te	teini
accusative	te	teið	te	teini
dative	te, tei	tenum	teum	teunum
genitive	tes	tesins	tea	teanna

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) bókstavur; a / fyrra a, á, be, de, edd, e, eff, ge, há, i / fyrra i, í / fyrra í, jodd, ká, ell, emm, enn, o, ó, pe, err, ess, te, u, ú, ve, seinna i, seinna í, seinna a, ø

Etymology 2

Originally from Hokkien 茶 (tê), from Middle Chinese, from Old Chinese, ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la (“leaf, tea”).

Noun

te n (genitive singular tes, uncountable)

1. tea

Declension

n4s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	te	teið
accusative	te	teið
dative	te, tei	tenum
genitive	tes	tesins

Derived terms

• grønt te
• hvítt te
• reytt te
• svart te
• teblað
• tebræv
• tekanna
• tekoppur
• temuður

Anagrams

• et

Finnish

Alternative forms

• Te (when used politely)

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *tek, from Proto-Uralic *te. The word is inflected as plural, but there is no plural marker in the nominative, except in dialects (tet).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈte/, [ˈt̪e̞]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification^(key): te
• Hyphenation^(key): te

Pronoun

te

1. (personal) you (second-person plural; when addressing many persons or when addressing politely or formally one person)

   Onko joku teistä kiinnostunut?

   Are any of you interested?

Usage notes

• Depending on the context, the pronoun can sometimes be omitted in written language if the text remains fluent – the pronoun is in spoken language practically always used (compare the usage of sinä (“you sg”)).
• When addressing one person politely or formally, it is recommended to capitalize the pronoun in writing: Te.
• When addressing only one person (even politely), the active past participle must be in the singular in the compound forms that use it (e.g. negative, perfect, pluperfect forms):
  • Te ette ollut täällä silloin. (negative past indicative) ― You were not here at that time.
  • Te olette ollut täällä silloin. (affirmative present perfect indicative) ― You have been here at that time.
  • Te ette ole ollut täällä silloin. (negative present perfect indicative) ― You have not been here at that time.
  • Te olisitte ollut täällä silloin. (affirmative present perfect conditional) ― You would have been here at that time.
  • Te ette olisi ollut täällä silloin. (negative present perfect conditional) ― You would have not been here at that time.
  • Te lienette ollut täällä silloin. (affirmative present perfect potential) ― You have probably been here at that time.
  • Te ette liene ollut täällä silloin. (negative present perfect potential) ― You haven't probably been here at that time.
  • Te olitte ollut täällä silloin. (affirmative past perfect indicative) ― You had been here at that time.
  • Te ette ollut ollut täällä silloin. (negative past perfect indicative; note the duplicate ollut) ― You had not been here at that time.

Declension

• Irregular (inflectional stem tei-, as if in the plural). The comitative and instructive forms don't exist; the abessive is hardly used.
• In addition to the standard set of cases, te and other personal pronouns have a specific accusative form, teidät.
• See this appendix for information on the dialectal variants of te.

Declension of te noun case singular plural nominative sinä te genitive sinun teidän partitive sinua teitä accusative sinut teidät inessive sinussa teissä elative sinusta teistä illative sinuun teihin adessive sinulla teillä ablative sinulta teiltä allative sinulle teille essive sinuna teinä translative sinuksi teiksi abessive sinutta teittä instructive – – comitative – –

Synonyms

• tet (dialectal)
• työ (dialectal)

Derived terms

• teidänlainen
• teidänlaisenne
• teikäläinen
• teititellä (verb)

Descendants

• Kven: tet

See also

Finnish personal pronouns

	first	second		third
		familiar	polite
singular	minä	sinä	Te	hän
plural	me	te		he

Further reading

• “te”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[5] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Anagrams

• et

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin tū.

Pronoun

te (prevocalic t', postpositive -tu) (ORB, broad)

1. you (second-person singular nominative)

See also

Franco-Provençal personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	tonic1	possessive2
singular	1st person		jo	mè			min
	2nd person		te	tè			tin
	3rd person	masculine	il	lo / le	lui		sin
		feminine	el	la	lyé
		neuter	o		y	—
		reflexive	—	sè
plural	1st person		nos				noutro
	2nd person		vos				voutro
	3rd person	masculine	ils	los / les	lor		lor
		feminine	els	les	lor / lyés
		reflexive	—	sè

¹ Disjunctive or object of a preposition.   ² Generally preceded by a definite article.

References

• tu in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• te in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

Etymology

From Middle French te, from Old French te, from Latin tē, (accusative of tū), from Proto-Indo-European *twé, *te, accusative of *túh₂ (“you”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tə/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ə

Pronoun

te m or f

1. (direct object) you

   Il te cite souvent. ― He often quotes you.

2. (indirect object) you

   Il te donne le livre. ― He gives you the book.

3. (reflexive pronoun) yourself

   Tu te souviens d'elle. ― You remember her. (literally, “You remind yourself of her.”)

Related terms

French personal pronouns

number	person	gender	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	locative (at)	genitive (of)	disjunctive (tonic)1	emphatic reflexive
singular	first	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi	moi-même
	second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi	toi-même
	third	masculine	il2	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui	lui-même
		feminine	elle	la, l’				elle	elle-même
		indeterminate	on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça	—	—	—	—	—	—
		reflexive	—	se, s’5		—	—	soi	soi-même
plural	first	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous	nous-mêmes
	second6	—	vous	vous		—	—	vous	vous-mêmes, vous-même6
	third	masculine	ils7	les	leur	y	en	eux7	eux-mêmes7
		feminine	elles					elles	elles-mêmes

¹ The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d’, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
² Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
³ On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
⁴ The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
⁵ The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
⁶ Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
⁷ Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

Further reading

• “te”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• et

Galician

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈte/ [ˈt̪e]
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: te

Noun

te m (plural tes)

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letra; a, be, ce, de, e, efe, gue, hache, i, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, que, erre, ese, te, u, uve, xe, ceta / zeta

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈte/ [ˈt̪ɪ]
• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: te

Pronoun

te

1. inflection of ti:
   1. accusative
   2. reflexive

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/

Etymology 1

From French été (“been”).

Adverb

te

1. Indicates the past or pluperfect tense.

Etymology 2

From French thé (“tea”), from Hokkien 茶 (tê).

Noun

te

1. tea

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[6], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 189

Hawaiian

Article

te

1. Niʻihau form of ke (“the”)

   Te kula.

   The school.

Hungarian

Etymology

From the same Proto-Uralic root *tinä as e.g. Finnish sinä, Erzya тон (ton), Eastern Mari тый (tyj) and Komi-Zyrian тэ (te).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -tɛ

Pronoun

te

1. (personal) you (second-person singular, nominative, informal form)

Declension

Declension of te

nominative	te
accusative	téged
dative	neked
instrumental	veled
causal-final	érted
inessive	benned
superessive	rajtad
adessive	nálad
illative	beléd
sublative	rád
allative	hozzád
elative	belőled
delative	rólad
ablative	tőled

Coordinate terms

Hungarian personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		én	mi
2nd person	familiar	te	ti
	polite, unfamiliar	maga	maguk
	formal	ön	önök
3rd person		ő	ők

Derived terms

Note: In all these forms, te is optional and only serves for emphasis.

• tealattad, teáltalad, teelőtted etc. (te + a postposition with the second-person singular personal suffix; see Appendix:Hungarian postpositions)
• teneked, teveled, tehozzád etc. (te + one of the declined forms listed in the chart above; see Appendix:Hungarian pronouns)

See also

• maga (formal)
• ön (official)

Further reading

• ([informal, singular] you): te in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• ([dialectal] stressing the plural addressee): te in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Hunsrik

Article

te (Wiesemann spelling)

1. alternative spelling of de

Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 茶 (tê) (Amoy dialect).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʰɛː/
• Rhymes: -ɛː

Noun

te n (genitive singular tes, no plural)

1. tea

Declension

Declension of te (sg-only neuter)

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	te	teið
accusative	te	teið
dative	tei	teinu
genitive	tes	tesins

Derived terms

• grænt te
• tebolli
• tehetta
• teketill
• tepottur
• tesía
• teskeið

Ido

Etymology

From t +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/, /tɛ/

Noun

te (plural te-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

See also

• Latin script letter names: literi: a · be · ce · che · de · e · fe · ge · he · i · je · ke · le · me · ne · o · pe · que · re · se · she · te · u · ve · we · xe · ye · ze ^[edit]

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch tee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ/, [ˈt̪ɛ]

Noun

tè (plural te-te)

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

Synonyms

• ti (Standard Malay)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet

Further reading

• “te”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish té (“hot”), from Proto-Celtic *teɸents, from Proto-Indo-European *tep-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʲe(h)/

Adjective

te (genitive singular masculine te, genitive singular feminine te, plural teo, comparative teo or teocha)

1. hot, warm
2. hot, spicy, piquant

Declension

Declension of te

Positive	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	strong noun	weak noun
nominative	te	the	teo; theo2
vocative	the		teo
genitive		te	teo	te
dative	te; the1	the	teo; theo2
Comparative	níos teo
Superlative	is teo

¹ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
² When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

• Alternative comparative form: teocha (Cois Fharraige)

Derived terms

• alathe (“lukewarm”)
• bogthe (“lukewarm”)
• buidéal te (“hot water bottle”)
• i do shuí go te (“comfortable”)
• te teolaí (“snug, cosy”)

Related terms

• teas

Mutation

Mutated forms of te

radical	lenition	eclipsis
te	the	dte

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “te”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin tē, from tū.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/^*, /ˈte/^*
  • Hyphenation: te, té
• (clitic) IPA^(key): /te/^°
  • Hyphenation: te
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

te

1. (disjunctive, emphatic) you, thee
3. (subject, colloquial and regional) you, thou

   Synonym: tu

   • 2022, “Italiani a Londra [Italians in London]”, in Devastante, performed by Il Pagante ft. J-Ax:

     E sai pure te quanto amo il Big Ben, ma, non dirlo a nessuno, I miss you Milan!

     And even you know how much love Big Ben, but, don't tell anyone, I miss you Milan!

   • 2020, “16 marzo [March 16]”, in 1969 – Achille Idol Rebirth, performed by Achille Lauro:

     […] perché per te l'amore dura un anno, perché te sai solo cancellarlo […]

     […] because, for you, love [only] lasts one year, because you only know how to erase it […]

Usage notes

• io e tu (“I and you”) sounds awkward in Italian ("something e tu" as subject in general); speakers often avoid it either by moving tu to the first position as tu ed io (“you and I”), or by using this regional te subject pronoun in place of standard tu: io e te.

Pronoun

te

1. (clitic) alternative form of ti

Usage notes

• Used when followed by a third-person direct object clitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).

See also

Italian personal pronouns

		singular						plural
		first	second	second formal / polite5	third			first	second	second formal / polite5	third
				m or f	m	f				m or f	m	f
nominative		io	tu	Lei, Ella8	lui, egli8, ello8, elli3, 8, esso8	lei, ella8, essa8		noi	voi, Voi7	Loro	loro
elli3, 8, ellino4, 8, eglino4, 8, essi8	elle3, 8, elleno4, 8, esse8
atonic (clitic)11	accusative / dative-reflexive	mi, m', -mi, me9	ti, t', -ti, te9	―	si6, s', -si, se9, ci13			ci, c', -ci, ce9	vi, Vi7, v', V'7, -vi, -Vi7, ve9	―	si, s', -si, se9
	accusative			La, -La, L'	lo, l', -lo, il4	la, l', -la				Le, -Le	li, -li	le, -le
	dative			Le, -Le	glie9					Loro10	loro10, gli2, -gli2, glie9
					gli, -gli	le, -le, gli2, -gli2
	locative	―			ci, c', vi1, v'1			―			ci, c', vi1, v'1
	partitive	ne, n'		ne, n'
tonic12	prepositional-reflexive	―			sé			―			sé
	oblique	me	te	Lei	lui, esso8	lei, essa8		noi	voi, Voi7	Loro	loro,
											essi8	elle8, esse8
1	Formal.
2	Informal.
3	Archaic.
4	Obsolete.
5	Grammatically third person forms used semantically in the second person as a formal or polite way of addressing someone (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
6	Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
7	Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).
8	Traditional grammars still indicate the forms egli (animate), ello / ella (animate), esso / essa and their plurals as the nominative forms of the third person pronouns; outside of very formal or archaizing contexts, all such forms have been replaced by the obliques lui, lei, loro.
9	Forms used when followed by a third-person direct object proclitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).
10	Used after verbs.
11	Unstressed forms, stand alone forms are found proclitically (except dative loro / Loro), others enclitically (-mi, -ti, etc.).
12	Disjunctive, emphatic oblique forms used as direct objects placed after verbs, in exclamations, along prepositions (prepositional) and some adverbs (come, quanto, etc.); also used with a to create alternative emphatic dative forms.
13	Only in "ci si", replaces indefinite si (“one”) before reflexive si (“oneself”).

Further reading

• te² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• et

Japanese

Romanization

te

1. The hiragana syllable て (te) or the katakana syllable テ (te) in Hepburn romanization.

Kalasha

Etymology

From Sanskrit तद् (tád), from Proto-Indo-European *tód.

Pronoun

te

1. they, them (absent from speaker) (3rd-person plural personal pronoun)

Coordinate terms

• éli

See also

Kalasha personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		a / آ	ábi / آبی
2nd person		tu / تُو	ábi / آبی
3rd person	near	ía / اِیا	émi / ایمی
	far	ása / آسا	éḷi / ایࣇی
	absent	se / سے	te / تے

Kholosi

Etymology

Cognate with Sindhi تي (te), Punjabi 'ਤੇ ('te).

Postposition

te

1. to

References

• Rezaei, Tahereh (2020), First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran‎^[7], Hormozgan Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts & Tourism Organization

Kikuyu

Etymology

Hinde (1904) records kute as an equivalent of English throw in the “Jogowini dialect” of Kikuyu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛ/

Verb

te (infinitive gũte)

1. to throw away

   tũteaga ― we (usually) throw away

See also

• gũikia

References

• Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu, p. 363. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin intus.

Preposition

te

1. (Badiot, Fascian, Gherdëina) in, inside, into

   L ie te cësa. ― It is in the house.

   Ei abinà la tleves tl (te l) castl. ― I found the keys in the closet.

   Ël ie te na bar. ― He is at a coffee shop.

   L lere ie te perjon. ― The thief is in prison.

2. in (pertaining to)

   te chësc cajo ― in this case

3. in, at, by (at the end of or during a period of time)

   L film scumëncia te 20 menuc. ― The film starts in 20 minutes.

   tl (te l) Medieve ― during the middle ages

   ti (te i) ani '60 ― in the 60s

4. into, to (going inside (of))

   Ël va te cësa. ― He goes into the house.

   Nëus jon te la Svizra. ― We are going to Switzerland.

Alternative forms

• en (Fascian)
• n (Gherdëina)

Derived terms

• (te + l) tl
• (te + la) tla
• (te + i) ti
• (te + les) les

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈteː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛː]

Etymology 1

From a merger of:

• Proto-Italic *tē, accusative of *tū (“you (singular)”); from Proto-Indo-European *twé, *te, accusative of *túh₂ (“you (singular)”)
• Proto-Italic *ted, from Proto-Indo-European *t(w)éd, the corresponding ablative singular.

Pronoun

tē

1. accusative/ablative singular of tū

Alternative forms

• 𐌕𐌄𐌃 (tēd) (Old Latin)
• tētē (emphatic, rare)

Derived terms

• tēmet

Descendants

• Aromanian: ti
• Asturian: te
• Catalan: te
• Franco-Provençal: tè
• French: te, toi
• Friulian: ti
• Galician: te, che
• Istriot: tèi, te
• Italian: te, ti
• Judeo-Italian: טִי (ṭi /⁠ti⁠/)
• Mozarabic: ت (t), תי (ty)
• Portuguese: te
• Romanian: te
• Sicilian: ti
• Spanish: te

Etymology 2

Derived from Etruscan. Etruscan names of stops were the stop followed by /eː/.

Noun

tē f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

Coordinate terms

• (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

Further reading

• “te (pronoun)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “te (letter)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “te”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[8], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) I have not seen you for five years: quinque anni sunt or sextus annus est, cum te non vidi
    
  • (ambiguous) everything depends on you: in te omnia sunt
    
  • (ambiguous) the decision of the question rests with you: penes te arbitrium huius rei est
    
  • (ambiguous) I blame this in you; I censure you for this: hoc in te reprehendo (not ob eam rem)
    
  • (ambiguous) convince yourself of this; rest assured on this point: sic volo te tibi persuadere
    
  • (ambiguous) the matter speaks for itself: res ipsa (pro me apud te) loquitur
    
  • (ambiguous) be brave: fortem te praebe
    
  • (ambiguous) your health: bene tibi or te!
    
  • (ambiguous) a word with you: paucis te volo
    
  • (ambiguous) a word with you: tribus verbis te volo
    
  • (ambiguous) I bid you good-bye, take my leave: te valere iubeo
    
  • (ambiguous) good luck to you: macte virtute (esto or te esse iubeo)
    

Latvian

Adverb

te

1. here

Conjunction

te

1. now..., now...

   te šur, te tur ― now here, now there

Lingala

Etymology

Borrowed from Bangi te.

Adverb

te

1. not

Lithuanian

Etymology

Cognate with Latvian te. The interjection is identical to Ancient Greek τῆ (tê, “here!, take this!”), which Beekes derives from Proto-Indo-European *teh₁, the instrumental neuter singular form of *tód. Compare Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌸𐌴 (biþē, “while”), 𐌳𐌿𐌸𐌴 (duþē, “therefore”), Tocharian A ca-, Tocharian B ce (“demonstrative pronoun”) < *tē, and possibly Old Armenian թէ (tʻē, “that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʲɛ/

Particle

tè

1. (with third person) may, let (used to indicate the optative mood)

   Ši̇̀ nakti̇̀s tè niẽkad nesibai̇̃gia. - May this night never end.

Interjection

tè

1. (with object cases) here you go, take this (when giving something to someone)

   Tè táu pinigų̃ – pir̃k tù sáu laũko kókį sklypẽlį. ― Here, have some money, go buy yourself a piece of land.

Synonyms

• še

Derived terms

• see te-
• bet
• net

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tɛ]

Determiner

te

1. nominative/accusative plural of ten

Lutuv

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *tay

Verb

te

1. to win

   Siymaluo pahning ta pungpalung a chipa i te

   At 2 o'clock I won the soccer game

References

• Brandy, Anthony (February 2026), “Interactions between directionals, TAM marking, and Aktionsart in Hnaring Lutuv (Lautu) Chin”, in Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures‎^[9], volume 4, number 1, →DOI

Maltese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Italian tèbor.

Maltese te

Borrowed from Italian tè.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛː/
• Rhymes: -ɛː

Noun

te m (plural tejiet)

1. tea

Manchu

Romanization

te

1. romanization of ᡨᡝ

Mandarin

Romanization

te (te⁵ / te⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄊㄜ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 脦

Romanization

te

1. nonstandard spelling of tē
2. nonstandard spelling of tè
3. nonstandard spelling of tê̄

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Manx

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teː/

Contraction

te

1. contraction of ta +‎ eh, literally “he/it is”

   Te myr shen.

   It is so.

Usage notes

An orthographic distinction is made in Classical Manx texts between t'eh 'he is' and te 'it is'.

See also

• t'ad
• t'ee
• t'eh
• t'ou

Māori

Etymology

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

Compare Hawaiian ka (“the”). False cognate of English the, but might have been reinforced by it.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈte/ [ˈtɛ]

Article

te sg (plural ngā)

1. the
   • 2006, Joanne Barker, Sovereignty Matters, page 208:

     Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Maori.

     The language is the life principle of Maori mana.

Determiner

te sg (plural ngā)

1. Referring to a whole class of things or people designated by the noun that follows.

   Kī tonu te wharenui i te tamariki.

   The meeting house was full of children.

2. Mr, mister, sir (capitalised)

   Kei Te Wharehuia, tēnei te mihi atu mō tō āwhina mai.

   Wharehuia sir, thank you most sincerely for your help.

3. Used in front of another verb following a stative.

   Kua oti i a au tāku pukapuka te tuhi.

   I have finished writing my book.

4. Used in front of another verb following taea.

   Ka taea e ia tēnei waiata te whakamāori.

   She will be able to interpret this song.

5. Used before the names for the days of the week.

   Ā te Rātapu mātou haere ai ki Poihākena.

   We go to Sydney on Saturday.

6. Sometimes used before numbers with a following noun.

   I tāwāhi a Pita mō te rima tau.

   Peter was overseas for five years.

7. Used before ordinal numbers including those using tua-.

   I piki a Tāne-nui-a-rangi ki te tuangahuru mā rua o ngā rangi.

   Tāne-nui-a-rangi climbed to the twelfth realm.

See also

• he (for "a/an" and "some")

References

• John C. Moorfield (2011), “te”, in Te Aka: Māori–English, English–Māori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, →ISBN

Meriam

Noun

te

1. mouth
2. door

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch te, from Proto-Germanic *ta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tə/

Preposition

te

1. at, in (a place)
2. to, towards
3. at, during (a time)
4. for (the purpose of)
5. in accordance with
6. with, from (a means, such as language)
7. (with gerund) to, for

Alternative forms

• toe (eastern)

Descendants

• Dutch: te
• Limburgish: te, tö

Adverb

te

1. very, particularly
2. too, to an excessive degree

Alternative forms

• toe (eastern)

Descendants

• Dutch: te

Further reading

• “te (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “te (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “te (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “te (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

Middle English

Pronoun

te

1. alternative form of þe (“thee”)

Middle French

Alternative forms

• t' (before a vowel)

Etymology

From Old French te.

Pronoun

te

1. you, second-person singular object pronoun
2. to you, second-person singular indirect object pronoun

Synonyms

• (second-person singular object and indirect object pronoun): toy (with verbs in the imperative)
• (second-person singular object and indirect object pronoun): vous (used as a mark of formality or respect)

Descendants

• French: te

Mohawk

Particle

te

1. used with iah to negate a sentence

Neapolitan

Etymology

From Latin tē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

te

1. you (singular familiar, accusative or dative or reflexive or prepositional)

Coordinate terms

Neapolitan personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	reflexive	possessive	prepositional
singular	first person		io	me			mìo, mìa, miéje, mèje	me, méne
	second person	familiar	tu	te			tùjo, tója, tuóje, tòje	te, téne
		formal	vuje	ve			vuósto, vòsta, vuóste, vòste	vuje
	third person	n	ésso	'o (lo)	lle	se	sùjo, sója, suóje, sòje	ésso
		m	ìsso	'o, 'u (lo, lu)	lle, lli			ìsso
		f	éssa	'a (la)	lle			éssa
plural	first person		nuje	nce			nuósto, nòsta, nuóste, nòste	nuje
	second person		vuje	ve			vuósto, vòsta, vuóste, vòste	vuje
	third person	n	éssa (llòro)	'a (la)	lle (llòro)	se	llòro (invariable)	éssa (llòro)
		m	ìsse (llòro)	'e, 'i (le, li)	lle, lli (llòro)			ìsse (llòro)
		f	ésse (llòro)	'e (le)	lle (llòro)			ésse (llòro)

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Etymology 1

From Dutch thee.

Noun

te m (definite singular teen)

1. tea

Derived terms

• iste
• tefat
• tekanne
• tekjele
• tekopp
• telys
• tepose
• teskje, teskei
• urtete

Etymology 2

From Old Norse tjá.

Verb

te (imperative te, present tense ter, passive tes, simple past tedde, past participle tedd, present participle teende)

1. (reflexive) to behave

References

• “te” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Etymology 1

From Dutch thee.

Noun

te m (definite singular teen)

1. tea

Derived terms

• iste
• tefat
• tekanne
• tekjele
• tekopp
• telys
• tepose
• teskei
• urtete

Etymology 2

From Old Norse tjá.

Verb

te (present tense ter, past tense tedde, past participle tedd or tett, passive infinitive teast, present participle teande, imperative te)

1. (reflexive) to behave

Etymology 3

From Old Norse til.

Preposition

te

1. (dialectal, Trøndelag, Østlandet) alternative form of til

References

• “te” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

te f (plural tes)

1. tee (the letter t, T)

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ta (“to”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/
• Rhymes: -e

Preposition

te

1. to
   • Heom te cwæþ (He said to him)

     Mt. Kmbl. Rush. 26, 21.

   • Ālēfed te habbanne (Allowed to have)

     Swt. 445, 30: 50.

Related terms

• te-

Old French

Etymology

From Latin tē.

Pronoun

te

1. you (second-person singular direct object pronoun)
2. to you (second-person singular indirect object pronoun)
3. yourself (second-person singular direct object reflexive pronoun)
4. to yourself (second-person singular indirect object reflexive pronoun)

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀢𑁂 (Brahmi script)
• ते (Devanagari script)
• তে (Bengali script)
• තෙ (Sinhalese script)
• တေ (Burmese script)
• เต (Thai script)
• ᨲᩮ (Tai Tham script)
• ເຕ (Lao script)
• តេ (Khmer script)
• 𑄖𑄬 (Chakma script)

Adjective

te

1. masculine nominative/accusative plural of ta (“that”)

Pronoun

te

1. nominative/accusative plural of ta (“they”)
2. instrumental/dative/genitive singular of tvaṃ (“you”)

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese até.

Adjective

te

1. until, till, up to, up until

Phuthi

Etymology

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

Conjunction

té

1. just, only, however

Relative

-té

1. naked

Inflection

Relative concord, tone H

	modifier	copulative
1st singular	legite	gite
2nd singular	lote	ute
1st plural	lesite	site
2nd plural	lelite	lite
class 1	lote	ute
class 2	labate	bate
class 3	lote	ute
class 4	lete	ite
class 5	lelite	lite
class 6	late	ate
class 7	lesite	site
class 8	letite	tite
class 9	lete	ite
class 10	letite	tite
class 14	lobute	bute
class 15	lokute	kute
class 17	lokute	kute

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: te
• Homophone: tę

Pronoun

te m

1. nonvirile nominative/accusative plural of ten

Pronoun

te f

1. nominative/accusative plural of ta

Pronoun

te n

1. nominative/accusative plural of to

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese te, from Latin tē (accusative of tū), from Proto-Indo-European *twé, *te, accusative of *túh₂ (“you”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /te/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɨ/

• Audio (Brazil (São Paulo)):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: te

Pronoun

te

1. (object pronoun) you (singular)

   Vem comigo; levar-te-ei a casa. (formal)
   Vem comigo, vou te levar pra casa. (informal)

   Come with me; I will take you home.

3. particle of spontaneity, when it indicates that there was spontaneity in the action by its agent.

   Vais-te muito cedo.

   You are leaving too soon.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:te.

See also

Portuguese personal pronouns

number	person		nominative (subject)	accusative (direct object)	dative (indirect object)	prepositional	prepositional with com	non-declining
singular	first		eu	me		mim	comigo	—
	second		tu	te		ti	contigo	você o senhor m a senhora f
	third	m	ele	o (lo, no)	lhe	ele	com ele	o mesmo
		f	ela	a (la, na)		ela	com ela	a mesma
plural	first		nós	nos		nós	connosco (Portugal) conosco (Brazil)	a gente
	second		vós	vos		vós	convosco com vós	vocês os senhores m as senhoras f
	third	m	eles	os (los, nos)	lhes	eles	com eles	os mesmos
		f	elas	as (las, nas)		elas	com elas	as mesmas
reflexive third / indefinite			—	se		si	consigo	o mesmo etc. (reflexive)

Rapa Nui

Article

te (pl te mau)

1. the (the definite article)

Romani

Conjunction

te

1. if

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin tē (accusative of tū), from Proto-Indo-European *twé, *te, accusative of *túh₂ (“you”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

te (unstressed accusative and reflexive form of tu)

1. (direct object) you

   Știi cât de mult te iubește?'

   Do you know how much he loves you?

2. (reflexive pronoun) yourself

Derived terms

• te rog

Related terms

• tine
• tu

See also

• mă
• se
• ne
• vă

Romansh

Alternative forms

• té (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan, Surmiran)
• tè (Puter, Vallader)

Noun

te m

1. (Sursilvan) tea

Sango

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛ˩/

Verb

te

1. to eat
2. to bite

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Pronoun

te ? (Cyrillic spelling те)

1. of you (clitic genitive singular of tȋ (“you”))
2. you (clitic accusative singular of tȋ (“you”))
3. feminine nominative plural of taj: those (= one)

   Tko su te žene? ― Who are those women?

Declension

Declension of te

	singular	plural
nominative	tȋ	vȋ
genitive	tȅbe, te	vȃs
dative	tȅbi, ti	vȁma, vam
accusative	tȅbe, te	vȃs
vocative	ti	vȋ
locative	tȅbi	vȁma
instrumental	tȍbōm	vȁma

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *ta. Compare Ukrainian та (ta).

Conjunction

te (Cyrillic spelling те)

1. and (following a cause; lit. and thereby, and thus)

   Poskliznuo sam se te pao.

   I slipped and fell.

2. and, and then (before the last thing in order of mention or occurrence)

   U posljednjih godinu dana bio sam u Beogradu, Zagrebu, Sarajevu te Podgorici.

   In the past year, I have been to Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Podgorica.

   Obukao sam se, izašao iz kuće, zaključao vrata te otišao na posao.

   I got dressed up, got out of the house, locked the door and then went to work.

3. (Croatia) now (chiefly used in stock phrases)

   Problemi gdje god pogledaš! Te tu, te tamo!

   Problems, wherever you look! Now here, now there!

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• tè, té, the (misspelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from French thé, from Dutch thee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛ/ (Standard)
• Hyphenation: te

Noun

te m

1. tea

Derived terms

• tiera
• tiina

See also

• bustina
• cafè
• caudiari
• caudu
• cìcara
• latti
• nfusu
• nfusuri
• spezzi
• spizziali
• tisana
• vùgghiri
• vùḍḍiri

Spanish

Alternative forms

• t (texting)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/ [t̪e]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: te
• Homophone: té

Etymology 1

Noun

te f (plural tes)

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

Etymology 2

From Latin tē (accusative of tū), from Proto-Indo-European *twé, *te, accusative of *túh₂ (“you”).

Pronoun

te

1. dative of tú: to you, for you

   Te voy a hacer tus calzones...."La Cucaracha"

   I’m going to make your britches

2. accusative of tú: you
3. (reflexive pronoun) yourself

See also

Spanish personal pronouns

				Nominative	Disjunctive	Dative	Accusative	Comitative
First-person	Singular			yo	mí	me		conmigo
	Plural	Masculine1		nosotros		nos		—
		Feminine		nosotras
Second-person	Singular	Tuteo		tú	ti	te		contigo
		Voseo		vos	—
		Formal2	Masculine1	usted		le, se3	lo
			Feminine				la
	Plural	Familiar4	Masculine1	vosotros		os
			Feminine	vosotras
		Formal/general2	Masculine1	ustedes		les, se3	los
			Feminine				las
Third-person	Singular	Masculine1		él		le, se3	lo
		Feminine		ella			la
		Neuter		ello5			lo
	Plural	Masculine1		ellos		les, se3	los
		Feminine		ellas			las
	Reflexive			—	sí	se		consigo

1. Like other masculine words, masculine pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
2. Treated as if it were third person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity.
3. 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).
4. Used primarily in Spain.
5. Only used in certain circumstances and rarely as a subject pronoun.

Further reading

• “te”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Sranan Tongo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/, [tɪ̞], [te̝]

Etymology 1

From English then.

Conjunction

te

1. when
   • 1984, “Nioni”, in Telefôn' mi koe mi koenoe, performed by The Exmo Stars and Boogie:

     Te yu no man fu tyari akata / yu no mu trobi matuku

     If you aren't able to carry a headpad / you shouldn't bother with a basket

Etymology 2

From English till or Dutch te.

Preposition

te

1. until

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Dutch thee.

Noun

te

1. tea

Descendants

• → Aukan: te
• → Saramaccan: té

Sumerian

Romanization

te

1. romanization of 𒋼

Swedish

en kopp te [a cup of tea]

Alternative forms

• the, thé

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: t, T
• Rhymes: -eː

Etymology 1

From either French thé or German Tee, ultimately from Hokkien 茶 (tê).

Noun

te n

1. tea (the tree, its dried leaves and the drink made from them)

   dricka en kopp te

   drink a cup of tea

   brygga te

   brew tea

   Låt teet dra i fyra minuter

   Let the tea steep for four minutes

   tepåse

   teabag

Declension

Declension of te

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	te	tes
	definite	teet	teets
plural	indefinite	teer	teers
	definite	teerna	teernas

Derived terms

• fläderte
• löste
• silverte
• tebjudning
• teblad
• teblask
• tebord
• tebricka
• tebröd
• tebuske
• teceremoni
• tedags
• tedrickare
• tefat
• tegelte
• teglas
• tehus
• tehuva
• tekaka
• tekanna
• tekittel
• tekokare
• tekopp
• tekula
• tekök
• teodling
• teplantage
• tepåse
• teros
• teservis
• tesil
• tesked
• teskörd
• tesort
• tesupé
• tevagn
• tevatten
• teveronika

Descendants

• → Finnish: tee

See also

• kaffe (“coffee”)

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish tēa, from Old Norse tjá, from Proto-Germanic *tīhaną, from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-. Cognate of Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (gateihan), German zeihen, Dutch tijgen.

Verb

te (present ter, preterite tedde, supine tett, imperative te)

1. (reflexive) to appear (a certain way)

   Och gräshopporna tedde sig såsom hästar, rustade till strid.

   And the shapes of the locusts [were] like unto horses prepared unto battle (Revelations 9:7)

Conjugation

Conjugation of te (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	te		—
supine	tett		—
imperative	te		—
imper. plural1	ten		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	ter	tedde	—	—
ind. plural1	te	tedde	—	—
subjunctive2	te	tedde	—	—
present participle		teende
past participle		—

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Related terms

• bete
• förete

Etymology 3

Eye dialect spelling of till, for some dialects.

Preposition

te

1. synonym of till

Usage notes

Rarely in written form unless imitating speech.

References

• “te”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “te”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “te”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• -et

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈte/ [ˈt̪ɛ]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: te
• Homophone: Te

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish te, the Spanish name of the letter T / t.

Noun

te (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜒ) (historical)

1. the name of the Latin script letter T/t, in the Abecedario

   Synonyms: (in the Filipino alphabet) ti, (in the Abakada alphabet) ta

Etymology 2

Noun

te (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜒ) (colloquial)

1. clipping of ate, term of address for an elder sister, female senior, or any female older than the speaker; sis

   Huwag ka maingay, te! Nag-aaral ako!

   Don't be noisy, sis! I'm studying!

   Te, ano ba?

   Sis, what is it now?

Usage notes

• Only used as a term of address.

Alternative forms

• teh

Further reading

• “te”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Tahitian

Article

te (plural sometimes te mau)

1. the (singular) (definite article)
2. the (plural) (definite article)
3. (conversationally) a, an (indefinite article)

References

• Lemaître, Yves (1995), Lexique du tahitien contemporain [Current Tahitian lexicon]‎^[10] (in French), Paris: Éditions de l'Orstom, →ISBN
• “te” in Dictionnaire en ligne Tahitien/Français (Online Tahitian–French Dictionary), by the Tahitian Academy.

Tokelauan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *te. Cognates include Hawaiian ke and Samoan le.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [te]
• Hyphenation: te

Article

te

1. Singular definite article; the

Derived terms

• a te
• ia te

See also

Tokelauan articles

impersonal
	singular	plural
definite	te	nā
indefinite	he	ni
personal
	nominal	pronominal
simple	ia
after i/ki	a	a te
after mai	ia te

References

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[11], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 379

Tongan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te/

Particle

te

1. will (future tense particle)

Turkish

Etymology 1

Noun

te

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze

Etymology 2

Noun

te

1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ت

Etymology 3

Adverb

te

1. alternative form of ta

Turkmen

Noun

te (definite accusative [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. The name of the Latin script letter T/t.

Tuvaluan

Article

te

1. the (definite article)

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *tee.

Noun

te

1. road, way

Inflection

Inflection of te (inflection type 13/ma)
nominative sing.	te
genitive sing.	ten
partitive sing.	ted
partitive plur.	teid
	singular	plural
nominative	te	ted
accusative	ten	ted
genitive	ten	teiden
partitive	ted	teid
essive-instructive	ten	tein
translative	teks	teikš
inessive	tes	teiš
elative	tespäi	teišpäi
illative	tehe	teihe
adessive	tel	teil
ablative	telpäi	teilpäi
allative	tele	teile
abessive	teta	teita
comitative	tenke	teidenke
prolative	tedme	teidme
approximative I	tenno	teidenno
approximative II	tennoks	teidennoks
egressive	tennopäi	teidennopäi
terminative I	tehesai	teihesai
terminative II	telesai	teilesai
terminative III	tessai	—
additive I	tehepäi	teihepäi
additive II	telepäi	teilepäi

Derived terms

• ajandte
• päavtote
• pämante
• päte
• raudte
• ristte
• šossete
• tedote
• telikundankodvii
• telämoi
• tenkatkaidai
• tenpäluz
• tesarʹ
• teverʹ
• ujundte
• ülituzte

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “дорога, трасса”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[12], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Volapük

Adverb

te

1. only, solely, merely
2. but

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English tea, from Dutch thee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê), probably via French thé or English tea.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

te m (uncountable)

1. (uncountable) tea (drink made with infusion of Camellia sinensis or other leaves)
2. tea (main evening meal)

   Synonyms: swper, hwyrbryd, cywnos, cinio

Derived terms

• amser te (“teatime”)
• bag te (“teabag”)
• bisgeden de (“tea biscuit”)
• blwch te (“tea caddy”)
• cist de (“tea chest”)
• clwb te (“tea club”)
• cwpan te (“teacup”)
• cwpanaid o de (“cup of tea”)
• dail te (“tea leaves”)
• dawns amser te (“tea dance”)
• dŵr te (“water for brewing tea”)
• dysgl de (“teacup”)
• dysglaid o de (“cup of tea”)
• fflasg de (“tea flask”)
• gardd de (“tea garden”)
• hambwrdd te (“tea tray”)
• helygen dail te (“tea-leaved willow (Salix phylicifolia”)
• hidlwr te (“tea strainer”)
• llestri te (“tea set, tea things”)
• llwy de (“teaspoon”)
• llwyn te (“broom tea-tree (Leptospermum scoparium)”)
• llwyn-te gwlanog (“wooly tea-tee (Leptospermum lanigerum)”)
• paned o de (“cup of tea”)
• pelen de (“teaball”)
• planhigfa de (“tea plantation”)
• rhosyn te (“tea rose”)
• seremoni de (“tea ceremony”)
• soser de (“saucer”)
• tabi te (“tea tabby (Aglossa dimidiata)”)
• te bach (“light refreshment, afternoon tea”)
• te bwtsiar (“tea made in the cup”)
• te camomeil (“camomile tea”)
• te cig eidion (“beef tea”)
• te colsyn (“cinder tea”)
• te dail (“leaf tea”)
• te deg (“elevenses”)
• te du (“black tea”)
• te gwyn (“white tea”)
• te gwyrdd (“green tea”)
• te Labrador (“Labrador tea (Ledum palustre(”)
• te Mecsico (“Mexican tea (Chenopodium ambrosioides)”)
• te melyn (“yellow tea”)
• te mintys (“mint tea”)
• te padi (“tea made in the cup”)
• te perlysiau (“herbal tea”)
• te perlysieuol (“herbal tea”)
• te pinsh (“tea made in the cup”)
• te slecyn (“cinder tea”)
• te swigod (“bubble tea”)
• te tramp (“tea made in the cup; stewed tea”)
• te ŵlong (“oolong tea”)
• tebot (“teapot”)
• troli te (“tea trolley”)
• tun te (“tea tin”)
• tŷ te (“teahouse”)
• wrn te (“tea urn”)
• ystafell de (“tearoom”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of te

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
te	de	nhe	the

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

Further reading

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “te”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “te”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

West Makian

Etymology 1

From Malay teh, possibly through Ternate tee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê) (Amoy dialect).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t̪e/

Noun

te

1. tea

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t̪e/

Conjunction

te

1. so; so that

   Synonym: supaya

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[13], Pacific linguistics

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmongic *tæwᶜ (“frost”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te˧/

Noun

te (classifier: cov)

1. frost

References

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979), White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[14], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 312.

Zia

Noun

te

1. foot