vous

From Proto-Slavic *ǫsъ

• IPA^(key): [ˈvou̯s]

vous m

1. one of threads of hair which form a beard
2. beard

• (beard): vousy

• knír m

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

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

• IPA^(key): /vu/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: voue
• Rhymes: -u

vous (formal singular, and plural)

1. The plural personal pronoun in the second person:
   1. (subject pronoun) You.

      Vous allez ― You go.

   2. (direct object pronoun) You.

      Je vous adore. ― I love you.

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 can not tell you.

• 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.

• vous-même, vous-mêmes
• vouvoyer
• comment allez-vous

• “vous” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From Old French vos, vous, from Latin vōs.

vous

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

• 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)

• French: vous

From Latin vōs.

vous

1. Alternative form of vos