lei
/lei/from spelling rules
The Spanish word lei refers to a garland of flowers in Hawaii.
Meaning: garland of flowers in Hawaii (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
/lei/
Did you know?
- Because lei sounds like the Spanish word ley, which means 'law', a speaker might accidentally confuse a floral necklace with a legal statute in a fast conversation.
- In Spanish, lei is a homonym that also means 'I read' in the past tense, as it is the first person singular preterite of the verb leer.
- If a Spanish speaker says leí with a written accent on the 'i', it always means 'I read', whereas lei without the accent refers to the Hawaiian garland.
Examples in context
- Hace tres años, estaba pagando ochenta lei, ahora pago doscientos.Three years ago, I was paying eighty lei, now I pay two hundred.Tatoeba #11902668 by carlosalberto, translation #11902595 by carlosalberto
- El Campeonato Mundial Femenino de Ajedrez 2023 se disputará del 5 al 25 de julio de 2023 entre la defensora del título, Ju Wenjun, y su contrincante, Lei Tingjie, ambas de China.The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship will be contested from 5 to 25 July 2023 by the defending champion, Ju Wenjun, and her challenger, Lei Tingjie, both from China.This sentence shows lei as part of a proper name.Tatoeba #11730433 by carlosalberto, translation #11730387 by carlosalberto
- Señor Pérez, le presento al señor Rodríguez.Mr. Pérez, I would like to introduce you to Mr. Rodríguez.
- ¿Tú quieres acompañarme al cine esta tarde?Do you want to come with me to the cinema this afternoon?
- ¿Vosotros queréis acompañarnos a la fiesta?Do you guys want to come to the party with us?
- Ella lleva un hermoso lei de flores.She is wearing a beautiful flower lei.
Example conversation
Alejandro and María are looking at vacation photos from Hawaii.
- AlejandroMira este lei que me regalaron.Look at this lei they gave me.
- MaríaEs muy hermoso, Alejandro.It is very beautiful, Alejandro.
- AlejandroSí, el lei olía muy bien.Yes, the lei smelled very good.
- MaríaTienes mucha suerte de tenerlo.You are very lucky to have it.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
