vos

See also: Appendix:Variations of "vos"

Languages (25)

Afrikaans • Aragonese • Catalan • Czech • Danish • Dutch • Fala • Franco-Provençal • French • Galician • Icelandic • Interlingua • Ladino • Latin • Lithuanian • Middle Dutch • Occitan • Old French • Old Occitan • Piedmontese • Portuguese • Sardinian • Slovene • Spanish • Walloon

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Page categories

Afrikaans

Etymology

Inherited from Dutch vos, from Middle Dutch vos, from Old Dutch fus, vus, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔs/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

vos (plural vosse, diminutive vossie)

1. fox, carnivore of the tribe Vulpini

Derived terms

• skoolvos

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin vos. Cognate to Catalan us, Spanish os and French vous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbos/
• Rhymes: -os
• Syllabification: vos

Pronoun

vos

1. you (second-person plural direct pronoun)
2. (to) you (second-person plural indirect pronoun)

Synonyms

• tos

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin vōs.

Pronunciation

• (Central) IPA^(key): /bus/ (always unstressed)
• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /vus/ (always unstressed)
• (Valencia) IPA^(key): /vos/ (always unstressed)

Pronoun

vos (enclitic, contracted us, proclitic us)

1. you (plural, direct or indirect object)

Usage notes

• -vos is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs ending with a consonant or ⟨u⟩.

  Heu de quedar-vos aquí. ― You must stay here.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

¹ Behaves grammatically as plural.   ² Behaves grammatically as third person.
³ Only as object of a preposition.   ⁴ Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Further reading

• “vos” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “vos”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “vos” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvos]

Noun

vos f

1. genitive plural of vosa

Danish

Pronoun

vos

1. (dialectal) Pronunciation spelling of os.
   • 1926, Adolph Stender, Skovtrold, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     Næ, la' vos bare inte skave vos! (...) men saa øver vi vos imens! Naar han ser vos gennem Vindvet, kommer han nok herud ...

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1973, Bent Rying, Alice Kennebo, København og Københavns amt:

     Han har sæl brunget desse ur te vos; ...

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1906, Maglekilde fortæller: humoristiske fortællinger:

     Jeg ka' kons mindes een eneste Gang a' han roste vos, – de' var en Da' da han ha'de trukket vos rigtig igjennem i Geveereksersis; — — der var inte en tør Trevl paa vos, saatten ha'de vi maattet hænge i en tre, fire Timmer i et Slav.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Dutch

Een vos met een prooi. — A fox with a prey.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: vos
• Rhymes: -ɔs

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle Dutch vos, from Old Dutch fus, vus, from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz.

Noun

vos m (plural vossen, diminutive vosje n, feminine vossin)

1. fox, carnivore of the tribe Vulpini
2. (particularly) red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

   Synonyms: gewone vos, rode vos

3. fox fur
4. a crafty, ingenious person

   Koen is een lepe vos, die laat zich niet in de luren leggen.

   Conrad is a sly fox who does not allow himself to be hoodwinked.

5. horse with red or red-brown fur
6. a tortoiseshell (any of various similar nymphalid butterflies)

   Hyponyms: kleine vos, grote vos

Derived terms

• Afghaanse vos
• brandvos
• een vos verliest wel zijn haren, maar niet zijn streken
• eilandvos
• gewone vos
• grijze vos
• grootoorvos
• grote vos
• kamavos
• kitvos
• kleine vos
• kortoorvos
• kruisvos
• moervos
• poolvos
• rode vos
• schoolvos
• sluw als een vos
• vosaap
• vosbelg
• vosbles
• vosgans
• voskleurig
• voskonijn
• vosrekel
• vosruin
• vosschaar
• vosschimmel
• vossen
• vossenbes
• vossengat
• vossengeschreeuw
• vossenhuid
• vossenjacht
• vossenkuil
• vossenstaart
• vossenval
• vossenvel
• woestijnvos
• zilvervos

Descendants

• Afrikaans: vos
• Jersey Dutch: vośe
• Negerhollands: vos

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

vos

1. inflection of vossen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Further reading

• “vos” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

Fala

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese vos, from Latin vōs.

Pronoun

vos m pl or f pl

1. Second person plural nominative pronoun; you
2. (Mañegu) First person plural dative and accusative pronoun; you

Usage notes

• In Mañegu voshotrus and voshotras are more commonly used as subject pronouns.
• Takes the form -vus when used as an object pronoun suffixed to an impersonal verb form.

See also

Fala personal pronouns

			nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
singular	first person		ei	me, -mi		mi
	second person		tú	te, -ti		ti
	third person	m	el	le, -li	uLV, oM	el
		f	ela		a	ela
plural	first person	common	nos	musL nusLV nos, -nusM		nos
		m	noshotrusM			noshotrusM
		f	noshotrasM			noshotrasM
	second person	common	vos	vusLV vos, -vusM		vos
		m	voshotrusM			voshotrusM
		f	voshotrasM			voshotrasM
	third person	m	elis	le, -li	usLV, osM	elis
		f	elas		as	elas
third person reflexive			—	se, -si		sí

Dialects:  ^L Lagarteiru   ^M Mañegu   ^V Valverdeñu

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin vōs (nominative or accusative).

Pronoun

vos (postpositive -vos) (ORB, broad)

1. you (second-person plural nominative, accusative, dative, or tonic)

Derived terms

• se vos plét

See also

Franco-Provençal personal pronouns

singular	nominative	accusative	dative	tonic1	possessive2
1st person	jo	mè			min
2nd person	te	tè			tin
3rd person masculine	il	lo / le	lui		sin
3rd person feminine	el	la	lyé
3rd person neuter	o		y	—
3rd person reflexive	—	sè
plural	nominative	accusative	dative	tonic1	possessive2
1st person	nos				noutro
2nd person	vos				voutro
3rd person masculine	ils	los / les	lor		lor
3rd person feminine	els	les	lor / lyés
3rd person reflexive	—	sè
1 Disjunctive or object of a preposition.		2 Generally preceded by a definite article.

References

• vous in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• vos in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French vos, from Latin vostros (“your, plural accusative”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vo/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -o
• Homophones: vaut, vaux, veau, veaux

Determiner

vos pl

1. plural of votre; your

   Vos parents sont très gentils.

   Your parents are very nice.

Related terms

French possessive determiners

			Possessee
			singular		plural
			m	f
Possessor	singular	1st	mon1	ma	mes
		2nd	ton1	ta	tes
		3rd	son1	sa	ses
	plural	1st	notre		nos
		2nd	votre2		vos2
		3rd	leur		leurs

¹ Also used before feminine adjectives and nouns beginning with a vowel or mute h.

² Also used as the polite singular form.

For the singular persons there are gender-neutral neologisms man, tan, san. These are extremely rare.

Further reading

• “vos”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Pronoun

vos

1. inflection of vós:
   1. accusative/dative
   2. reflexive

Icelandic

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse vás, which is related to vaska (“to wash”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔs/

Noun

vos n (genitive singular voss, nominative plural vos)

1. wetness, toil, fatigue (from storm, sea, frost, bad weather)

Declension

Declension of vos (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	vos	vosið	vos	vosin
accusative	vos	vosið	vos	vosin
dative	vosi	vosinu	vosum	vosunum
genitive	voss	vossins	vosa	vosanna

References

• Mallet, P. H. (1847). Northern Antiquities, Or, an Historical Account of the Manners, Customs, Religion, and Laws, Maritime Expeditions and Discoveries, Language and Literature of the Ancient Scandinavians ... with a Translation of the Prose Edda from the Original Old Norse Text ... to which is Added, an Abstract of the Eyrbyggja Saga. United Kingdom: Bohn, p. 509

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin vōs (“you, plural”).

Pronoun

vos

1. you (plural)

Ladino

Etymology

From Old Spanish vosotros.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vos/

Pronoun

vos (Hebrew spelling בﬞוס)

1. you (formal singular, nominative and accusative)
2. accusative of vozotros
3. accusative of vozotras

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *wōs, from the oblique case forms of Proto-Indo-European *yū́.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /u̯oːs/, [u̯oːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /vos/, [vɔs]

Pronoun

vōs

1. you, ye, you all; nominative/accusative/vocative plural of tū
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.200–202:

     “Vōs et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantīs
     accēstis scopulōs, vōs et Cyclōpēa saxa
     expertī [...].”

     “You neared mad Scylla and heard the howls within her cliffs, and you experienced the rocks of the Cyclops.”
     (Note: “accestis” is a syncopated form of “accessistis.” The “vos et … vos et” repetition exemplifies anaphora.)

Usage notes

When used in the plural genitive, vestrī is used when it is the object of an action, especially when used with a gerund or gerundive. When used in such a construction, the gerund or gerundive takes on the masculine genitive singular. Vestrum is used as a partitive genitive, used in constructions such as (one of you).

Declension

	plural
nominative	vōs
genitive	vestrī vestrum
dative	vōbīs
accusative	vōs
ablative	vōbīs
vocative	vōs

Derived terms

• vōbīscum
• vōsmet

Descendants

• Aromanian: voi, voauã
• Catalan: vós, vosaltres
• Dalmatian: vu, voi
• Franco-Provençal: vos
• Friulian: vô, voaltris
• Italian: voi, voialtri
• Mirandese: bós
• Neapolitan: vuje
• Occitan: vos, vosautres
• Old French: vos
  • Middle French: vous
    • French: vous
  • Walloon: vos
• Old Galician-Portuguese: vos
  • Galician: vós, vosoutros
  • Portuguese: vós
• Romanian: voi, vouă
• Romansch: vus
• Sardinian: bosatrus
• Sicilian: vui, vuàutri
• Spanish: vos, vosotros, os

See also

Latin personal pronouns together with the possessive and reflexive pronouns

			pronoun						possessive
number	person		nominative	genitive	dative	accusative	ablative
singular	first		ego	meī	mihi	mē			meus, -a, -um
	second		tū	tuī	tibi	tē			tuus, -a, -um
	third	m	is	ēius	eī	eum	eō		—
		f	ea			eam	eā
		n	id			id	eō
plural	first		nōs	nostrī, nostrum	nōbīs	nōs	nōbīs		noster, -tra, -trum
	second		vōs	vestrī, vestrum	vōbīs	vōs	vōbīs		vester, -tra, -trum
	third	m	eī, iī	eōrum	eīs	eōs	eīs		—
		f	eae	eārum		eās
		n	ea	eōrum		ea
reflexive			—	suī	sibi	sē, sēsē			suus, -a, -um

References

• “vos”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vos”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "vos", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• vos in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • picture to yourselves the circumstances: ante oculos vestros (not vobis) res gestas proponite
    
  • not to be prolix: ne diutius vos demorer
    

Lithuanian

Etymology

Cognate with Proto-Slavic *(j)edъva (“barely”); see there for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vos]

Adverb

võs (not comparable)

1. hardly, barely

Derived terms

• advos
• vos ne vos
• vos tik
• vos vos

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch fus, vus, from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs.

Noun

vos m

1. fox, red fox

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• vossinne

Descendants

• Dutch: vos
  • Afrikaans: vos
  • Jersey Dutch: vośe
  • Negerhollands: vos
• Limburgish: vósj

Further reading

• “vos”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “vos”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan vos, from Latin vōs (“you, plural”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vus/

• Audio:

  (file)

Pronoun

vos

1. to you (second-person plural indirect object pronoun)
2. yourselves (second-person plural reflexive pronoun)

Old French

Alternative forms

• vous
• vus

Etymology

From Latin vōs (“you, plural”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vus/

Pronoun

vos

1. you (second-person plural or second-person singular polite subject pronoun)
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Que vos puissiez cest blasme estaindre

     That you may be able to get rid of this blame

2. your (second-person plural or second-person singular polite possessive pronoun)
3. yourself (second-person plural or second-person singular polite reflexive pronoun)
4. you (second-person plural or second-person singular polite object pronoun)
   • c. 1176, Chrétien de Troyes, Cligès:

     qant je vos voi de tel meniere

     when I see you in such a state

Descendants

• Middle French: vous
  • French: vous
• Walloon: vos

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin vōs (“you, plural”).

Pronoun

vos

1. you (plural or polite form)

Descendants

• Occitan: vos

Piedmontese

Alternative forms

• vus

Etymology

From Latin vōx.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vus/

Noun

vos f (plural vos)

1. voice

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vōs.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vus/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /vus/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /vuʃ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /vos/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vuʃ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vuʃ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /buʃ/

• Hyphenation: vos

Pronoun

vos

1. objective of vós

   É por isso que vos digo que...

   That is why I tell you (all) that...

See also

Portuguese personal pronouns

number	person		nominative (subject)	accusative (direct object)	dative (indirect object)	prepositional	prepositional with com	non-declining
singular	first		eu	me		mim	comigo	—
	second		tu	te		ti	contigo	você o senhor m a senhora f
	third	m	ele	o (lo, no)	lhe	ele	com ele	o mesmo
		f	ela	a (la, na)		ela	com ela	a mesma
plural	first		nós	nos		nós	connosco (Portugal) conosco (Brazil)	a gente
	second		vós	vos		vós	convosco com vós	vocês os senhores m as senhoras f
	third	m	eles	os (los, nos)	lhes	eles	com eles	os mesmos
		f	elas	as (las, nas)		elas	com elas	as mesmas
reflexive third / indefinite			—	se		si	consigo	o mesmo etc. (reflexive)

Sardinian

Alternative forms

• bos

Etymology

From Latin vōs, from Proto-Italic *wōs, from the oblique case forms of Proto-Indo-European *yū́ (“you”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bos/, /vos/ (in certain Nuorese towns)

Pronoun

vos (possessive vostru)

1. you (plural), ye

   Synonyms: vois, vosateros

Slovene

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ǫsъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋóːs/

Noun

vọ̑s m inan

1. (obsolete) hair
2. (obsolete) moustache

Further reading

• “vos”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin vōs (“you, plural”), from Old Latin vōs, from Proto-Italic *wōs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbos/ [ˈbos]
• Rhymes: -os
• Syllabification: vos

Pronoun

vos

1. (archaic) an elevated form of you, either singular or plural

   Vos, doña Juana, sois caritativa.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (parts of Latin America, Chavacano-speaking areas in the Philippines) a form of you, singular

   Synonym: tú

Derived terms

• ay ve vos
• voseante
• vosear
• voseo

Descendants

• Chavacano: vos (vulgar)

See also

Spanish personal pronouns

				nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
first person	singular			yo	me		mí1
	plural	masculine2		nosotros	nos		nosotros
		feminine		nosotras			nosotras
second person	singular	tuteo		tú	te		ti1
		voseo		vos			vos
		formal3		usted	le, se4	lo/la5	usted
	plural	familiar6	masculine2	vosotros	os		vosotros
			feminine	vosotras			vosotras
		formal/general3		ustedes	les, se4	los/las5	ustedes
third person	singular	masculine2		él	le, se4	lo	él
		feminine		ella		la	ella
		neuter		ello7		lo	ello
	plural	masculine2		ellos	les, se4	los	ellos
		feminine		ellas		las	ellas
	reflexive			—	se		sí1

1. Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
2. Like other masculine Spanish words, masculine Spanish pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
3. Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
4. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g., Se lo dije instead of Le lo dije)
5. Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
6. Used primarily in Spain
7. Used only in rare circumstances

Further reading

• “vos”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Walloon

Etymology

Inherited from Old French vos, from Latin vōs (“you, plural”), from Proto-Italic *wōs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔ/

Pronoun

vos

1. you (singular)
2. you (plural)

Synonyms

• (plural): vozôtes