Gelés

Gelés is the masculine plural form of gelé, the past participle of the French verb geler, meaning to freeze. As an adjective, gelés describes something that has been frozen or is in a frozen state. It can also function as a past participle in compound tenses, agreeing with a preceding direct object when used predicatively.

Etymology and forms: Gelé comes from the verb geler, itself from a root related to frost in Latin (gelus). The standard gender and number forms are gelé (masc. sing.), gelée (fem. sing.), gelés (masc. pl.), and gelées (fem. pl.). The pronunciation in standard French is approximately /ʒe.le/.

Usage and examples: Gelés is widely used in everyday language to describe frozen goods or conditions, for example des aliments gelés (frozen foods), légumes gelés (frozen vegetables), or les mains gelées (frozen hands). It also appears in meteorological or descriptive contexts to indicate surfaces or periods when freezing occurs. In grammar, gelés can appear as the past participle of geler in compound tenses (e.g., J'ai gelé l'eau), and when it functions as an adjective it agrees with the noun it modifies (les aliments gelés).

Relation to gelée: Gelés is distinct from gelée, the feminine form and also a noun meaning jelly or jelly-like dessert. Gelée can also serve as a feminine adjective (une soupe gelée) and as a noun (une gelée de fruits). The two words share the same root but occupy different grammatical categories and gender forms.

See also: gel, gelid, geler (to freeze).