se

See also: σε and Appendix:Variations of "se"

Translingual

Proper noun

se

1. (ISO country codes) Sweden

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English

Etymology

From Mandarin 瑟 (sè).

Pronunciation

Noun

se (plural ses)

1. (music) A type of ancient Chinese plucked zither.

Translations

ancient Chinese plucked zither

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瑟 (zh) (sè)

• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

• 'e's, -es, E's, ES, Es, E♭s, E♯s, e's, es

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Abinomn

Noun

se

1. cloud

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Afrikaans

Alternative forms

• s'n (used without a following noun)
• syn (obsolete)

Etymology

From Dutch zijn (“his, its”). An Afrikaans innovation is the use of se regardless of the number or gender of the possessor, which may be due to a merger with the Dutch genitive suffix -s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/

Particle

se

1. follows a noun to indicate that this noun possesses that which follows, much like English 's

   Dis my ouma se huis.

   This is my grandmother’s house.

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Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *tśe(i), *tśi from Proto-Indo-European *kwe-, *kw(e)i- (“how, what”). Interrogative and relative pronoun, especially in connection with a preposition.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

Conjunction

se

1. that as, when

   Më duket se ke nevojë për disa shokë të rinj.

   It seems to me that you need some new friends.

   Im vëlla më tha se don të bisedojë me ty rreth librit të ri.

   My brother told me that he wants to talk to you about the new book.

Related terms

• si
• sa

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Bonan

Etymology

From Proto-Mongolic *usun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/

Noun

se

1. water

References

• Üjiyediin Chuluu (Chaolu Wu) (November 1994), “Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Baoan”, in (Please provide the title of the work)‎^[1], Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
• Henry G. Schwarz, The Minorities of Northern China: A Survey (1984), page 140: 'water' Daur os

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Breton

Pronoun

se

1. that, this

   Petra eo se? ― What's that?

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin sē, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun).

Pronoun

se (enclitic, contracted 's, proclitic es, contracted proclitic s')

1. himself, herself, itself (direct or indirect object)
2. oneself (direct or indirect object)
3. themselves (direct or indirect object)
4. each other (direct or indirect object)

Usage notes

The use of se and other direct personal pronouns can indicate the passive in Catalan.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

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

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Czech

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sę.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

• audio

  (file)

Pronoun

se (reflexive pronoun)

1. (accusative) oneself (clitic form of reflexive pronoun sebe)

   myself

   yourself

   himself

   herself

   itself

   ourselves

   yourselves

   themselves

Declension

Declension

	singular
nominative	—
genitive	sebe
dative	sobě, si
accusative	sebe, se
vocative	—
locative	sobě
instrumental	sebou

Synonyms

• sebe

Related terms

• si

Preposition

se (also s)

1. with

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Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. (reflexive) oneself

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Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish se, from Old Norse sjá, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/, [seːˀ]
• Rhymes: -eːˀ

Verb

se (imperative se, infinitive at se, present tense ser, past tense så, perfect tense har set)

1. To see.

Conjugation

Inflection of se

	present	past
simple	ser	så
perfect	har set	havde set
passive	ses	sås
participle	seende	set
imperative	se	—
infinitive	se	—
auxiliary verb	have	—
gerund	seen	—

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Dimasa

Numeral

sé

1. one

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Esperanto

Etymology

From Italian se, influenced by French si, Spanish si, and Latin sī.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Conjunction

se

1. if

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Ewe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

Noun

se (plural sewo)

1. law

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Fala

Alternative forms

• si

Etymology

From Old Portuguese se, sse, from Latin sē, from Proto-Indo-European *se-.

Pronoun

se

1. used for passive constructions with transitive verbs and undetermined agent (equivalent to one)
   • 2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Theme II, Chapter 2: Recunquista:

     Non poemos analizar con pormenoris estis siglos, pero tampoco se debi toleral que, sin fundamentus, se poña en duda algo que a Historia documentá nos lega sobre nossa terra.

     We can’t thoroughly analyse these centuries, but one mustn’t tolerate that, unfoundedly, something documented history tells us about our land be questioned.

2. reflexive and reciprocal: oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, yourself; each other, one another
   • 2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Anexu: A Porcá:

     Cumían algu de herba por camiñus, se bañaban i os devulvían a casa por as tardis.

     They ate some pasture along the way, bathed themselves and were returned to their home in the afternoon.

Synonyms

• (reflexive): -si

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Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/

Noun

se n (genitive singular ses, plural se)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter C.

Declension

Declension of se
n4	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	se	seið	se	seini
accusative	se	seið	se	seini
dative	se, sei	senum	seum	seunum
genitive	ses	sesins	sea	seanna

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Fijian

Noun

se

1. flower
2. gills

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Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se, from Proto-Uralic *śe. For plural forms, see etymology of ne.

The oblique stem si- is seen in some forms and is also found in other Finnic languages, such as the following cognates of the partitive singular sitä: Karelian sitä, Livvi sittäh, Veps sidä, Votic sitä. This is possibly a remnant of the original expected form **si (due to final e > i) which was reversed in some forms, possibly as influence from the plural ne.

The stem sii- seen in internal locative case forms may have been generalized from the plural forms as a means to distinguish from partitive/essive sitä, sinä; expected internal locative cases *sissä, *sistä may have been avoided as a dissimilation. Compare Veps siš (inessive singular of se).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse/, [ˈs̠e̞]
• Hyphenation: se
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

se (stem se-, also si-, and sii-, see below)

1. (demonstrative, including in Kven) it; (when the speaker does not point at the thing) that
2. (colloquial and dialectal, Kven) he, she
3. (colloquial) the (see the usage notes below)

Usage notes

• Due to the influence of Germanic languages, and nowadays especially to that of English, se may often be used as a kind of definite article in colloquial Finnish, though in standard Finnish it is ungrammatical, where word order expresses whether something is definite or indefinite. (Compare the usage of yksi.)

(standard) Mies tuli luokseni. → (colloquial) Se mies tuli mun luokse.

The man came to me.

(standard) Luokseni tuli mies. → (colloquial) Yks mies tuli mun luokse.

A man came to me.

Inflection

Irregular.

Declension of se noun case singular plural adverbial form singular plural nominative se ne superessive siellä – genitive sen niiden, niitten delative sieltä – partitive sitä niitä sublative sinne – accusative se, sen ne lative siis – inessive siinä niissä temporal silloin – elative siitä niistä causative siten – illative siihen niihin multiplicative – – adessive sillä niillä distributive – – ablative siltä niiltä temp. dist. – – allative sille niille prolative – – essive sinä niinä situative – – translative siksi niiksi oppositive – – instructive – (niin) abessive – (niittä) comitative – niine

Synonyms

• (he or she): hän

Derived terms

• se ja se
• se siitä
• sellainen
• sen koommin
• sen pituinen se

See also

• tämä
• tuo
• nämä
• nuo
• ne

Determiner

se

1. that (not pointed at by the speaker)

Anagrams

• es

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French

Etymology

From Middle French se, from Old French se, from Latin sē, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun). See also soi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ə
• Homophone: ce

Pronoun

se m or f (pre-vocalic s')

1. The third-person reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronoun.
   1. (to) himself
   2. (to) herself
   3. (to) oneself
   4. (to) itself
   5. (to) themselves
   6. (to) each other

Usage notes

• Se becomes s' before a vowel or unaspirated h, and sometimes, in nonstandard writing, in other cases where the e would be silent, e.g. in lyrics.
• Se is often used with an actual subject, but it is also very often used with an abstract subject:

  Il est normal de se parler. ― It is normal to talk to oneself.

Derived terms

• s'en aller

Related terms

French personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative (subject)	Reflexive	Accusative (direct complement)	Dative (indirect complement)	Locative (at)	Genitive (of)	Disjunctive (tonic)
Singular	First	—	je, j’	me, m’			—	—	moi
	Second	—	tu	te, t’			—	—	toi
	Third	Masculine	il	se, s’	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui, soi
		Feminine	elle		la, l’				elle, soi
		—	on		—	—	—	—	soi
Plural	First	—	nous	nous			—	—	nous
	Second	—	vous	vous			—	—	vous
	Third	Masculine	ils	se, s’	les	leur	y	en	eux, soi
		Feminine	elles						elles, soi

See also

• The other reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronouns: me, m', te, t', nous, vous.
• The third-person reflexive and reciprocal disjunctive pronoun: soi.

Further reading

• “se” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• es, ès

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Galician

Etymology 1

From Latin sī.

Conjunction

se

1. if

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronoun

se

1. accusative/dative of si

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German Low German

Alternative forms

• sei

Etymology

From Middle Low German sê, variously from Old Saxon sia and Old Saxon siu, ultimately developed from forms of Proto-Germanic *hiz and possibly influenced by Proto-Germanic *sa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zeː/, /seː/, /zɛɪ/, /sɛɪ/

Pronoun

se

1. she

   Se is Anke.

   She is Anke (Annie).

Pronoun

se

1. they

   Se kaamt ut Bremen.

   They come from Bremen.

   • 1861, G. Ungt, Twee Geschichten in Mönstersk Platt. Ollmanns Jans in de Friümde un Ollmanns Jans up de Reise, page 163:

     Dao gävven⁵ sick de Beiden dann auk an, datt se wier by ähr keimen.⁶

     ⁵ gaben – gaben sich an – strengten sich an.   ⁶ zu ihnen kamen.

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Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French c'est (“it is”)

Verb

se

1. to be
2. that is (compare French c'est)
3. it is (compare French c'est)

Usage notes

• Use ye at the end of a clause.
• This word does not appear when the predicate is an adjective or prepositional phrase, except when the preposition in the prepositional phrase is pou (“for”) or tankou (“like”).

References

• [2]

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Hungarian

Alternative forms

• sem

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛ]

• Audio

  (file)

Conjunction

se

1. …, neither (or not…, either)
2. neither… nor…

Derived terms

(Compound words):

• sebaj
• sohase
• úgyse

(Expressions):

• ahol a madár se jár
• se füle, se farka
• se híre, se hamva

See also

• se-

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Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto se.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/, /sɛ/

Conjunction

se

1. if

   La klerko komencus laborar se ilu povus. ― The clerk would begin to work if he could.

   Se me povus, me komprus altra domo. ― If I could, I would buy another house.

Noun

se (plural se-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter S/s.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; 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 ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

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Ingrian

Pronoun

se

1. it

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Interlingua

Pronoun

se (third person)

1. Reflexive: oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves.

   Illa se videva in le speculo. ― She saw herself in the mirror.

2. Reciprocal: each other, one another.

   Quando illes se cognosceva? ― When did they meet (each other)?

3. Used for passive constructions with undetermined agent (translated by "one").

   De mi casa se vide le mar. ― From my house the sea is seen.

   (Literally, “...the sea sees itself.”)

4. Hence, used for expressions of the type "to get/become ...-ed".

   espaventar — “to frighten”; espaventar se = "to get frightened" (lit., "to frighten oneself")

Usage notes

• (reflexive, reciprocal, oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, each other, one another): Many verbs bear a reflexive pronoun by default. Se must be replaced by me, te, etc., according to the subject.

  infiltrar se — “to infiltrate”

  repentir se — “to repent”

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Istriot

Etymology

From Latin sī.

Conjunction

se

1. if
   • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 99:

     Biela, se ti vedissi li galiere,

     Beautiful one, if you saw the galleys,

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/
• Rhymes: -e

Etymology 1

From Late Latin se, from Latin sī, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun).

Conjunction

se

1. if

   Se non è vero, è ben trovato.

   If it is not true, it is a good story.

2. whether
3. if only

Derived terms

• se non
• se non che

Etymology 2

Pronoun

se

1. Alternative form of si
2. Alternative form of sé

Usage notes

• Used especially when combined with verbs or other pronouns.
• Becomes si when used as part of a reflexive verb.

See also

Italian personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Reflexive	Accusative	Dative	Locative	Genitive	Disjunctive
Singular	first	—	io	mi, m', -mi			—		me
	second	—	tu	ti, t', -ti					te
	third	m	lui	si2, s', -si	lo, l', -lo	gli, -gli	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'	lui, sé
		f	lei, Lei1		la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1	le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1			lei, Lei1, sé
Plural	first	—	noi	ci, c', -ci			—		noi
	second	—	voi, Voi4	vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4					voi, Voi4
	third	m	loro, Loro1	si, s', -si	li, Li1, -li, -Li1	gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro1	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'	loro, Loro1, sé
		f			le, Le1, -le, -Le1
1	Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (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.
2	Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
3	Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language.
4	Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).

References

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Japanese

Romanization

se

1. Rōmaji transcription of せ
2. Rōmaji transcription of セ

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Kalasha

Etymology

From Sanskrit स (sa), सा (sā), from Proto-Indo-European *só.

Pronoun

se

1. he/she/it (absent from speaker) (3rd-person personal pronoun)

Coordinate terms

• áya

See also

Kalasha personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		a	ábi
2nd person		tu	ábi
3rd person (near)		ía	émi
3rd person (far)		ása	éḷi
3rd person (absent)		se	te

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Karelian

Pronoun

se

1. it

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Kurdish

Alternative forms

• seg (Sorani)

Etymology

From West Iranian *spaka "dog-like, relating to dogs" (compare Old Median σπάκα (“dog”), Persian سگ‎ (sag), and Old Armenian ասպակ (aspak, “dog”), a borrowing from Median), from Proto-Iranian [Term?] (compare Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬁‎ (spā), Pashto سپۍ‎ (spəy)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian [Term?] (compare Sanskrit श्वन् (śvā́)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ.

Noun

se ?

1. (Kurmanji) dog

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Ladin

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. (indefinite) one, you, we, they, people. Note: often translated using the passive voice in English.
2. (reflexive) oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves; (reciprocal) each other, one another. Note: With some verbs, si is not translated in English.

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Lashi

Verb

se

1. know
2. be able to

References

• https://inter.payap.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/linguistics_students/Luk_Hkaw_Thesis2017.pdf

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /seː/

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Pronoun

sē

1. the accusative of the reflexive pronoun meaning himself, herself, itself, themselves

   Sē amat.

   He loves himself.

   Necessario sē aperiunt.

   They were forced to open themselves.

   In marī sē praecipitāvit.

   He drowned himself in the sea.

2. the ablative of the reflexive pronoun meaning by himself, by herself, by itself, by themselves

Usage notes

• There is little distinction made between the accusative forms sē and sēsē as the two forms are used indifferently, except that sēsē is preferred where emphasis is intended (especially in reference to a preceding ipse, or at the beginning or the end of a clause).

Declension

Personal pronoun declension.

Singular	First-person	Second-person	Reflexive
nominative	ego/egō	tū	—
genitive	meī	tuī	suī
dative	mihi/mihī, mī	tibi	sibi
accusative	mē	tē	sē, sēsē
ablative	mē	tē	sē, sēsē
vocative	egō	tū	—
possessive	meus	tuus	suus
Plural	First-person	Second-person	Reflexive
nominative	nōs	vōs	—
genitive	nostrī, nostrum	vestrī, vestrum	suī
dative	nōbīs	vōbīs	sibi
accusative	nōs	vōs	sē, sēsē
ablative	nōbīs	vōbīs	sē, sēsē
vocative	nōs	vōs	—
possessive	noster	vester, voster	suus

Derived terms

• inter sē
• per sē
• sēcum

Descendants

• Aromanian: se
• Catalan: se
• Dalmatian: se
• French: se, soi
• Galician: se
• Italian: sé

• Ladin: se
• Occitan: se
• Portuguese: se
• Romanian: se, sine
• Sicilian: si
• Spanish: se

See also

Latin personal pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative	Ablative	Possessive
Singular	First	—	ego	meī	mihi	mē		meus, -a, -um
	Second	—	tū	tuī	tibi	tē		tuus, -a, -um
	Reflexive third	—	—	suī	sibi	sē, sēsē		suus, -a, -um
	Third	Masculine	is	eius	eī	eum	eō	eius
		Feminine	ea			eam	eā
		Neuter	id			id	eō
Plural	First	—	nōs	nostrī, nostrum	nōbīs	nōs	nōbīs	noster, -tra, -trum
	Second	—	vōs	vestrī, vestrum	vōbīs	vōs	vōbīs	vester, -tra, -trum
	Reflexive third	—	—	suī	sibi	sē, sēsē		suus, -a, -um
	Third	Masculine	eī, iī	eōrum	eīs	eōs	eīs	eōrum
		Feminine	eae	eārum		eās		eārum
		Neuter	ea	eōrum		ea		eōrum

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Ligurian

Etymology

From Late Latin se(d), from Latin sī (“if”) + quid (“what”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Conjunction

se

1. if

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Livonian

Etymology

Akin to Finnish se.

Pronoun

se

1. that
2. he

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Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sę.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɛ]

Pronoun

se

1. myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, oneself
2. each other, one another
3. used to form passives

Derived terms

• se wě

References

• se in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.

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Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zə/

Pronoun

se

1. unstressed form of si

Declension

Luxembourgish personal pronouns

	nominative		accusative		dative		reflexive
	str.	unstr.	str.	unstr.	str.	unstr.
1st person singular	ech	—	mech	—	mir	mer	like dat. and acc.
2nd person singular (informal)	du	de	dech	—	dir	der	like dat. and acc.
2nd person singular (formal)	Dir	Der	Iech	Iech [əɕ]	Iech	Iech [əɕ]	Iech
3rd person singular (m)	hien	en	hien	en	him	em	sech
3rd person singular (f)	si	se	si	se	hir	er	sech
3rd person singular (n)	hatt	et ('t)	hatt	et ('t)	him	em	sech
1st person plural	mir	mer	eis (ons)	—	eis (ons)	—	eis (ons)
2nd person plural	dir	der	iech	iech [əɕ]	iech	iech [əɕ]	iech
3rd person plural	si	se	si	se	hinnen	en	sech

---

Malay

Malay cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : se

Alternative forms

• esa
• ĕsă
• sĕ (sĕ-)
• sa (sa-)
• să (să-)
• اسا‎
• س‎ (س-‎)

Etymology

Shortened form of esa, from Proto-Malayic *əsa, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *əsa, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan *əsa, from Proto-Sunda-Sulawesi *əsa, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əsa, from Proto-Austronesian *əsa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə/
• Rhymes: -sə, -ə

Numeral

se (Jawi spelling س)

1. one

Synonyms

• satu / ساتو‎
• tunggal / توڠݢل‎
• eka (eka-) / ايک‎ (ايک-‎)
• ahad / احد‎

Derived terms

• se- / س-‎

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Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic سَ‎ (sa-, “future particle”), an archaism in Maltese vis-à-vis most other varieties of modern Arabic.

Particle

se

1. Indicates a future tense.

---

Mandarin

Romanization

se

1. Nonstandard spelling of sè.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Middle Dutch

Pronoun

se

1. accusative of si (“they”)

---

Middle English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛː/, /seː/

Etymology 1

From Old English swē, swǣ, variants of swā (“so”). More at so.

Adverb

se

1. so

Etymology 2

From Old English sǣ.

Noun

se

1. Alternative form of see (“sea”)

Descendants

• English: sea

Etymology 3

From Old French sei.

Noun

se

1. Alternative form of see (“see”)

Descendants

• English: see

Etymology 4

Pronoun

se

1. Alternative form of sche

References

• “she, (pron.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 9 May 2018.

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French se, from Latin sē.

Pronoun

se

1. The third-person reflexive and reciprocal direct object pronoun.
   1. himself
   2. herself
   3. oneself
   4. itself
   5. themselves
   6. each other
2. The third-person reflexive and reciprocal indirect object pronoun.
   1. to himself
   2. to herself
   3. to oneself
   4. to itself
   5. to themselves
   6. to each other

      ils se donnerent bataille ― they gave each other battle (they gave battle to each other)

Usage notes

• Whether to translate as himself, herself, oneself, itself, themselves or each other depends on the gender (male, female or none) and number (singular or plural).
• Usually becomes s' before a vowel. In older manuscripts, it becomes s- with no apostrophe.

Descendants

• French: se

---

Middle Low German

Alternative forms

• su, sia

Etymology

Variously from Old Saxon sia and Old Saxon siu, ultimately developed from forms of Proto-Germanic *hiz and possibly influenced by Proto-Germanic *sa.

Pronunciation

• Stem vowel: ê⁴
  • (originally) IPA^(key): /seː/

Pronoun

sê

1. (third person singular female nominative) she
2. her (accusative of sê)
3. (third person plural nominative) they
4. them (accusative of sê)

Declension

Middle Low German personal pronouns

		nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
1st person singular		ik (ek)	mî (mê, mik, mek)		mîn (mîner)
2nd person singular		dû	dî (dê, dik, dek)		dîn (dîner)
3rd person singular
	m	hê (hî, hie)	ēne, en (ȫne, ȫn)	ēme, em (ȫme, en)	sîn (sîner)
	n	it (et)
	f	sê (sî, sie, sü̂)		ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)
1st person plural		wî (wê, wie)	uns (ûs, ös, ü̂sik)		unser (ûser)
2nd person plural		gî (jê, î)	jû (jûwe, û, jük, gik)		jûwer (ûwer)
3rd person plural		sê (sî, sie)		em, öm, jüm (en; ehnen, ohnen, öhnen)	ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)
For an explanation of the forms in brackets see here.

Descendants

• Dutch Low Saxon: zee
• German Low German: se
• Plautdietsch: see

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Neapolitan

Etymology

From Latin sē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

se

1. reflexive third person pronoun: oneself, himself, itself, herself, themselves etc.

---

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian siā, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sɛ/

Verb

se (present se, 2nd singular sjochst, 3rd singular sjocht, past saag, perfect sen)

1. (Sylt) to see

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse sjá, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

se (imperative se, present tense ser, passive ses or sees, simple past så, past participle sett, present participle seende)

1. to see (perceive with the eyes).

Derived terms

Terms derived from se

• anse
• etterse
• forutse

• innse
• overse
• påse

• seer
• usett
• utseende

See also

• sjå (Nynorsk)

References

• “se” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

---

Novial

Pronoun

se

1. (reflexive) himself; herself; itself; themselves

Usage notes

• Used only for the third person.

---

Old English

Alternative forms

• þe (later form for se), þēo (alternative form for sēo)

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *sa, from Proto-Indo-European *só.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se(ː)/

Article

se m (definite)

1. the

   se mōna.

   the moon.

Determiner

sē

1. that (masculine singular form)

   Þone rǣd ġerǣdde Wīdsīþ.

   Widsith gave that advice.

Pronoun

sē m (demonstrative pronoun)

1. that, he (masculine singular form)

   Þā ne sacaþ.

   They do not quarrel.

Usage notes

• (that, he): se is normally read as sē when used pronominally.

Declension

Declension of se

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	se	sēo	þæt
Accusative	þone	þā	þæt
Genitive	þæs	þǣre	þæs
Dative	þǣm, þām	þǣre	þǣm, þām
Instrumental	þȳ, þī, þon	þǣre	þȳ, þī, þon
	Plural
Nominative		þā
Accusative		þā
Genitive		þāra, þǣra
Dative		þǣm, þām
Instrumental		þǣm, þām

See also

• sēo
• þæt
• þā

---

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin sē (“himself, herself, itself”), accusative of reflexive pronoun.

Alternative forms

• sei
• soi

Pronoun

se m or f (invariable)

1. himself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
2. herself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
3. itself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
4. oneself (reflexive direct and indirect third-person singular pronoun)
5. themselves (reflexive direct and indirect third-person plural pronoun)

Descendants

• French: se

Etymology 2

From Latin si.

Conjunction

se

1. if
2. then (afterwards; following)

Descendants

• French: si

---

Old Frisian

Pronoun

se

1. she
2. they

---

Old Irish

Determiner

se

1. Alternative spelling of so

---

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *sa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/

Article

sē m (demonstrative)

1. definite article: the

   sē māno ― the moon

2. demonstrative adjective: that, those

   Hē gaf thē gift. ― He gave that gift.

Declension

Declension of sē

	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
nominative	sē	that	sīu	thē
accusative	than	that	thē	thē
genitive	thēs	thēs	thēra	thēra
dative	thēm	thēm	thēra	thēm
instrumental	thiu, thia, thuo, thuru

See also

• Feminine: siu
• Neuter: that

---

Pilagá

Pronoun

se

1. I

   se-take ― I want

References

• 2001, Alejandra Vidal, quoted in Subordination in Native South-American Languages

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Pipil

Pipil cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : sē     Ordinal : achtu     Adverbial : seujti     Distributive : sejsē ika

Etymology

From Proto-Uto-Aztecan *sɨmayV. Compare Classical Nahuatl ce (“one”). Cognate with Hopi suukya' (“one”), Shoshone seme' (“one”), Cahuilla súplli (“one”), and O'odham hema (“one”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseː/

Numeral

sē

1. one

   Nikneki semaya se

   I want only one

Article

sē

1. a, indefinite article

   Tikitat se tekulut tik ne kwajkwawit

   We saw an owl in the trees

Pronoun

sē

1. someone, something, indefinite pronoun

   Walajsik se ina ka metzishmati

   Someone came who said she/he knows you

   Se anmejemet nemi pal yawi pal kikua ne takwal

   One of you has to go to buy the food

   Ne nunan nechmakak se anmupal

   My mom gave me something for you all

---

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /si/
  • Homophone: si
• (South Brazil) IPA^(key): /se/
  • Homophone: cê
• Hyphenation: se
• Rhymes: -i

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese sse, se, from Latin sē, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun).

Pronoun

se m or f

2. third-person singular and plural reflexive pronoun; himself; herself; itself; themself; themselves

   Ela se viu no espelho.

   She saw herself in the mirror.

4. third-person singular and plural reciprocal pronoun; each other; one another

   Quando eles se conheceram?

   When did they meet (each other)?

6. second-person singular and plural reflexive and reciprocal pronoun, when used with second-person pronouns other than tu and vós; yourself; yourselves

   E você se diz um professor!

   And you call yourself a teacher!

8. forms the passive voice; be; get

   espantar ― to frighten

   espantar-se ― to get frightened (Literally, “to frighten oneself”)

   Da minha casa se vê o mar.

   The sea can be seen from my house. (Literally, "From my house oneself sees the sea.")

10. impersonal reflexive pronoun; oneself

    Vive-se bem em Belém.

    One lives well in Belém. (Literally, *"∅ lives oneself well in Belém.")

Usage notes

• When the verb precedes se, a hyphen must be used. In Portugal post-verb se is more common, while in Brazil it usually precedes the verb.
• (reflexive and reciprocal): Many verb senses take a reflexive pronoun by default; they are called pronominal verbs. Se must be replaced by me, te, etc. according to the subject.

  comunicar-se (com) ― to communicate (with)

  arrepender-se ― to repent

• Many ergative English verbs are translated by a bare verb for transitive usage and a pronominal one for intransitive:

  O professor acalmou os alunos.

  The teacher calmed the students down.

  O professor acalmou-se.

  The teacher calmed down.

Quotations

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

See also

Portuguese personal pronouns (edit)
Number	Person	Nominative (subject)		Accusative (direct object)		Dative (indirect object)	Prepositional		Prepositional with com		Non-declining
		m	f	m	f	m and f	m	f	m	f	m	f
Singular	First	eu		me			mim		comigo
	Second	tu		te			ti		contigo		você
											o senhor	a senhora
	Third	ele	ela	o (lo, no)	a (la, na)	lhe	ele	ela	com ele	com ela	o mesmo	a mesma
				se (reflexive)			si (reflexive)		consigo (reflexive)
Plural	First	nós		nos			nós		connosco (Portugal) conosco (Brazil)		a gente
	Second	vós		vos			vós		convosco		vocês
											os senhores	as senhoras
	Third	eles	elas	os (los, nos)	as (las, nas)	lhes	eles	elas	com eles	com elas	os mesmos	as mesmas
				se (reflexive)			si (reflexive)		consigo (reflexive)
Indefinite				se (reflexive)			si (reflexive)		consigo (reflexive)

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese se, from Latin sī (“if”).

Alternative forms

• si (eye dialect)

Conjunction

se

2. if (introduces a condition)
   • 2007, J. K. Rowling, Lya Wyler, Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte, Rocco, page 317:

     Desculpe, acho que dá mais medo se for meia-noite!

     I'm sorry, I thought it would be more fearsome if it were midnight!

   Se for sair, leve um guarda-chuva.

   If you go out, take an umbrella.

   Só começaremos se nos pagarem.

   We will only begin if they pay us.

Quotations

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

Synonyms

• caso

Antonyms

• caso contrário, senão

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Romanian

Etymology

From Latin sē, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/
• Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

se

1. (reflexive pronoun) oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves

Related terms

• sine

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Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) si
• (Sutsilvan, Surmiran) sen
• (Puter, Vallader) sü

Etymology

Adverb

se

1. (Sutsilvan, Surmiran) up, upward, upwards

---

Samoan

Article

se

1. a (singular indefinite article)

See also

• le

---

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *sę.

Pronoun

se (Cyrillic spelling се)

1. oneself (clitic form of reflexive pronoun)
   1. myself
   2. yourself
   3. himself
   4. herself
   5. itself
   6. ourselves
   7. yourselves
   8. themselves

Declension

Declension of se

	singular	plural
nominative	—	—
genitive	sȅbe, se	sȅbe
dative	sȅbi, si	sȅbi
accusative	sȅbe, se	sȅbe
vocative	—	—
locative	sȅbi	sȅbi
instrumental	sȍbōm	sȍbom

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *sь.

Particle

se (Cyrillic spelling се)

1. (obsolete) this is; here is
   • 1404, anonymous, Kočerin tablet:

     се лежи вигань милошевиꙉь

     Here lies Viganj Milošević.

---

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sę.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ/

Pronoun

se

1. oneself: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself (accusative)
2. ourselves, yourselves, themselves (accusative)

Inflection

Declension of se (irregular, suppletive)

singular
	1st person	2nd person	reflexive
nominative	jàz	tí	—
accusative	méne, me	tébe, te	sébe, se
genitive	méne, me	tébe, te	sébe, se
dative	méni, mi	tébi, ti	sébi, si
locative	méni	tébi	sébi
instrumental	menój, máno	tebój, tábo	sebój, sábo
possessive	mój	tvój	svój
dual
	1st person	2nd person	reflexive
nominative	mídva m, médve/mídve f or n	vídva m, védve/vídve f or n	—
accusative	náju	váju	sébe, se
genitive	náju	váju	sébe, se
dative	náma	váma	sébi, si
locative	náju	váju	sébi
instrumental	náma	váma	sebój, sábo
possessive	nájin	vájin	svój
plural
	1st person	2nd person	reflexive
nominative	mí m, mé f or n	ví m, vé f or n	—
accusative	nàs	vàs	sébe, se
genitive	nàs	vàs	sébe, se
dative	nàm	vàm	sébi, si
locative	nàs	vàs	sébi
instrumental	nàmi	vàmi	sebój, sábo
possessive	nàš	vàš	svój

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se/
• Homophones: sé, ce (non-Castilian)

Etymology 1

From Latin sē, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun).

Pronoun

se m or f (third person, including ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’)

1. Third person (also used for usted and ustedes) reflexive direct or indirect object oneself, himself, herself, itself, yourself; each other; one another
2. Also used to convey the meaning of the English passive voice in the third person and with usted and ustedes.

   ¿Cómo se llama? — “What is your name?” [formal] (Literally, “How do you call yourself?”)

   Se dice que... — “It is said that...” (Literally, “It says itself that...”)

   Aquí se habla español — Spanish is spoken here or They speak Spanish here. (Literally, “Spanish speaks itself here.”)

Usage notes

• (third person (and used for ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’) reflexive): Se is used as a suffix with verbs in the infinitive and imperative.

Etymology 2

From Old Spanish ge (from Latin illī, compare Portuguese lhe, Italian gli), whose pronunciation shifted from /ʒe/ to /ʃe/ in Early Modern Spanish, at which point it was reanalyzed as /se/ (rather than shifting to /xe/ as expected).

Alternative forms

• ge (archaic)

Pronoun

se m or f (third person, including ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’)

1. Used instead of indirect object pronouns le and les before the direct object pronouns lo, la, los, or las.

   El samaritano se las dio. — “The Samaritan gave them to him.”

See also

• Appendix:Spanish pronouns

Spanish personal pronouns

				nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
first person	singular			yo	me		mí1
	plural	masculine2		nosotros	nos		nosotros
		feminine		nosotras			nosotras
second person	singular	tuteo		tú	te		ti1
		voseo		vos			vos
		formal3		usted	le, se4	lo/la5	usted
	plural	familiar6	masculine2	vosotros	os		vosotros
			feminine	vosotras			vosotras
		formal/general3		ustedes	les, se4	los/las5	ustedes
third person	singular	masculine2		él	le, se4	lo	él
		feminine		ella		la	ella
		neuter		ello7		lo/la5	ello
	plural	masculine2		ellos	les, se4	los	ellos
		feminine		ellas		las	ellas
	reflexive			—	se		sí1

1. Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
2. 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.
3. Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
4. 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)
5. Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
6. Used primarily in Spain
7. Used only in rare circumstances

Etymology 3

Verb

se (main verb saber)

1. Misspelling of sé.

Further reading

• “se” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

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Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch zee.

Noun

se

1. sea

---

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish sēa, sē, sīa, from Old Norse séa, sjá, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”). Cognate with Danish se, Norwegian Nynorsk sjå and Icelandic sjá, English see, German sehen and Dutch zien.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seː/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: C, c
• Rhymes: -eː

Verb

se

1. to see; use one's sight
   • 1888, August Strindberg, Fröken Julie

     Tvärtom, fröken Julie, som ni ser har jag skyndat uppsöka min övergivna!

     Quite the opposite, miss Julie, as you can see I have rushed to find my abandonned one!

   • 1915, John Wahlborg, Stjärnbanér i blågult

     Vad jag sett och hört och känt har helt enkelt överväldigat mig.

     What I have seen and heard and felt has quite simply overwhelmed me.

2. to see; to understand

   Jag ser inte hur det skulle kunna vara möjligt.

   I don't see how that could be possible.

3. to see; to form a mental picture of

Conjugation

Conjugation of se (class 5 strong)

	Active	Passive
Infinitive	se	ses
Present tense	ser	ses
Past tense	såg	sågs
Supine	sett	setts
Imperative	se	—
Present participle	seende
Past participle	sedd

Synonyms

use one's sight

• titta
• kolla
• stirra

understand

• förstå
• fatta
• begripa

Hypernyms

• förnimma

Derived terms

• avse
• bortse
• frånse
• inse
• se an / se något an
• se efter
• se på
• se ut
• se till
• tillse
• återse
• överse

Related terms

• höra
• lukta
• smaka
• känna

See also

• syn
• sikt

---

Tarantino

Pronoun

se (impersonal, reflexive)

1. it
2. one

---

Tocharian A

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *suHyús. Cognate with Tocharian B soy, Old Armenian ուստր (ustr) and Ancient Greek υἱύς (huiús).

Noun

se m

1. son

See also

• ckācar
• pācar
• mācar
• pracar
• ṣar

---

Turkish

Noun

se

1. The name of the Latin-script letter S.

---

Tuvaluan

Article

se (indefinite article)

1. a, an

---

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se.

Determiner

se

1. it
2. that (far)

Inflection

Inflection of se
nominative sing.	se
genitive sing.	sen
partitive sing.	sidä
partitive plur.	niid
	singular	plural
nominative	se	ne ned
accusative	sen	ne ned
genitive	sen	niiden
partitive	sidä	niid
essive-instructive	sen	—
translative	sikš	niikš
inessive	siš	niiš
elative	sišpäi	niišpäi
illative	sihe	niihe
adessive	sil	niil
ablative	silpäi	niilpäi
allative	sile	niile
abessive	sita	niita
comitative	senke	niidenke
prolative	sidäme	niidme
approximative I	senno	niidenno
approximative II	sennoks	niidennoks
egressive	sennopäi	niidennopäi
terminative I	sihesai	niihesai
terminative II	silesai	niilesai
terminative III	—	—
additive I	sihepäi	niihepäi
additive II	silepäi	niilepäi

Derived terms

• -se

References

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

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Volapük

Preposition

se

1. out of

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Welsh

Verb

se

1. (colloquial) Contraction of basai.

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West Frisian

Pronoun

se

1. Alternative form of sy (“she”)

Pronoun

se

1. Alternative form of sy (“they”)

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Zazaki

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sɛ]

Adverb

se

1. how
2. if

Numeral

se

1. hundred
2. Alternative form of sed