vous
vous - Czech
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA: [ˈvou̯s]
- Hyphenation: vous
Noun
vous m inan
Declension
vous - French
Pronunciation
Pronoun
vous (second-person plural and second-person formal singular, informal singular tu, object vous, emphatic vous, possessive determiner votre)
- the plural personal pronoun in the second person:
- you, to you (indirect object pronoun):
- Je vous donnerai mon adresse. ― I will give you my address / I will give my address to you.
- (formal, polite) plural or singular personal pronoun in the second person:
- Monsieur, je ne peux pas vous le dire ― Sir, I cannot tell you.
Usage notes
- vous is used to address more than one person or to address one person formally. vous is often used, for example, when two adults meet for the first time.
- Children, youth, and students do not usually use vous with each other. Adults do not usually use vous to address young children.
- The use of vous is always considered professional and is used in office settings, schools, etc. to address a single person even when the speaker knows that person well. Thus, Avez-vous fini? (are you finished) may often be heard in an office setting, while As-tu fini? (singular, personal you) is not as common. Likewise, some people may call each other tu in some settings and vous in others; for example, lawyers who are friends with each other may call each other tu in informal settings but vous when in court, out of respect for the formal setting.
- The use of vous and tu varies from place to place. For example, Quebecers have the reputation of being freer with tu than Europeans, such as among work colleagues.
- In Louisiana French, the use of vous is rather restricted since it is a polite pronoun and most speakers only use French with people they know well, such as family members. Moreover, it is a singular pronoun; when addressing more than one person, Louisiana French-speakers make use of the plural form vous autres.
Derived terms
Related terms
Number | Person | Gender | Nominative (subject) | 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 | le, l’ | lui | y | en | lui | |
Feminine | elle | la, l’ | elle | |||||
Indeterminate | on1 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Reflexive | — | se, s’4 | — | — | soi4 | |||
Plural | First | — | nous | nous | — | — | nous | |
Second | — | vous2 | vous2,3 | — | — | vous2 | ||
Third | Masculine | ils3 | les | leur | y | en | eux3 | |
Feminine | elles | elles |
- 1 Also used as the first person plural.
- 2 Also used as the polite singular form.
- 3 Also used when a group has both men and women.
- 4 Also used as third person plural reflexive.
vous - Middle English
Adjective
vous
- Alternative form of fous
vous - Middle French
Pronoun
vous
Usage notes
- As in modern French, vous is either plural or polite as both a subject pronoun and a reflexive pronoun:
- 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 12:
- Car se vous vous mettez en ceste forest qui est grande et espesse
- For if you put yourself into this forest which is big and thick
- (The first vous is the subject pronoun, and the second is the reflexive pronoun. Both are singular, referring to Lancelot)
-
Descendants
- French: vous
vous - Old French
Pronunciation
- IPA: /vus/
Pronoun
vous
- Alternative form of vos