ale
Grammatical form
ale is the dative/locative singular form of ała — “ala (female mythological creature recorded in the folklore of Bulgarians, Macedonians, and Serbs; a demon of bad weather whose main purpose is to lead hail-producing thunderclouds in the direction of fields, vineyards, or orchards to destroy the crops, or loot and take them away)”.
Definitions
- 1.but (contrastive conjunction)
Grałem dobrze, ale przegrałem.
I played well, but I lost.
- 2.not only … but also
Jesteś nie tylko głupi, ale też naiwny!
You're not only stupid, but also naive!
- 3.used at the beginning of a sentence; similar in meaning to the English "hey, not so fast", especially when used multiple times
Ale, ale! Jeszcze z tobą nie skończyłem!
Hey, not so fast! I'm not quite done with you yet!
- 4.may very well, but, even though, despite
Stary, bo stary, ale mocny.
He very well may be old, but he's still strong.
Trudno bo trudno, ale robi się łatwiej.
It may very well be hard, but it's getting easier.
- 5.colloquialused at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis
Ale masz piękną sukienkę!
You have such a beautiful dress!
Ale ta zupa jest dobra!
This soup is so good!
- 6.colloquialbut
Żadnych ale!
No buts!
- 7.ale (beer produced by warm fermentation)
angielskie ale
English ale
Synonyms & related words
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish ale. By surface analysis, univerbation of a + le. For the particle use, compare Hungarian de.