vous

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Czech

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Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ǫsъ.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: vous

Noun

vous m inan (diminutive vousek or vousík)

  1. one of threads of hair which form a beard
  2. beard
    Synonym: vousy

Declension

Declension of vous (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative vous vousy
genitive vousu vousů
dative vousu vousům
accusative vous vousy
vocative vouse vousy
locative vousu vousech
instrumental vousem vousy

Derived terms

adjectives
nouns

See also

Further reading

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French vous, from Old French vos, vous, from Latin vōs, from Proto-Italic *wōs.

See cognates in regional languages in France: Angevin, Bourbonnais-Berrichon, Bourguignon, Champenois, Lorrain, Orléanais, and Poitevin-Saintongeais vous; Franc-Comtois vôs; Gallo vouz; Norman and Franco-Provençal vos; Picard os; Occitan vosautres (Provençal vousautes); Catalan vosaltres; Corsican voi.

Other cognates with the same usage are voi in Italian as well as вы in Russian.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

vous (second-person plural and second-person formal singular, informal singular tu, object vous, emphatic vous, possessive determiner votre)

  1. the plural personal pronoun in the second person:
    1. (subject pronoun) you (all).
      Vous allez ― You (all) go.
    2. (direct object pronoun) you (all).
      Je vous adore. ― I love you (all).
  2. you, to you (indirect object pronoun):
    Je vous donnerai mon adresse. ― I will give you my address / I will give my address to you.
  3. (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.(Can we clean up(+) this sense?)
  • 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

French personal pronouns
number person gender nominative
(subject) 		accusative
(direct complement) 		dative
(indirect complement) 		locative
(at) 		genitive
(of) 		disjunctive
(tonic)1 		emphatic
reflexive 		relative proximal distal
singular first — je, j’ me, m’ — — moi moi-même —
second — tu te, t’ — — toi toi-même —
third masculine il2 le, l’ lui y en lui lui-même celui celui-ci celui-là
feminine elle la, l’ elle elle-même celle celle-ci celle-là
indeterminate on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça — — — — — — ce ceci cela, ça
reflexive — se, s’5 — — soi soi-même —
plural first — nous nous — — nous nous-mêmes —
second6 — vous vous — — vous vous-mêmes,
vous-même6 		—
third masculine ils7 les leur y en eux7 eux-mêmes7 ceux ceux-ci ceux-là
feminine elles elles elles-mêmes celles celles-ci celles-là

1 The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d‘, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
2 Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
3 On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
4 The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
5 The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
6 Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
7 Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

Further reading

Middle English

Adjective

vous

  1. alternative form of fous

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French vos, vous, from Latin vōs.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Pronoun

vous

  1. you (plural or polite)
  2. yourself (second-person plural or polite reflexive pronoun)

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

Old French

Etymology

From Latin vōs.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

vous

  1. alternative form of vos
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