nous autres

See also: nous-autres

French

Alternative forms

Etymology

See nous (us) and autres (others). Compare Asturian nosotros, Catalan nosaltres, Galician nosoutros, Italian noialtri, Occitan nosautres, Spanish nosotros.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nu.z‿otʁ/
  • (Louisiana) IPA(key): [nu.zɔt]

Pronoun

nous autres m pl or f pl

  1. we (exclusive first-person plural pronoun (others and I but not you))
  2. (Canada, Louisiana) we (inclusive or exclusive first-person plural pronoun (you and I; you, others, and I; or others and I))
    Synonyms: (rare in Louisiana) nous, on
    • 2010, Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, page 419:
      Nous-autres est après pomper le riz.
      We are irrigating the rice.
  3. (Louisiana, following a preposition or infinitive) us (objective case of we)
    • 2010, Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French, page 419:
      Dans le vieux temps, quand on allait visiter une fille, souvent on se balançait sur la galerie avec le père et la mère droit là avec nous-autres.
      In the old days, when we would go to visit a girl, often we would swing on the porch with the father and mother right there with us.
    • 2010, Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French, page 419:
      Ça a donné la main à les enfants de nous attendre nous-autres parler français tu connais.
      It helped the children to hear us speak French, you know.

Usage notes

Derived terms

  • nous-autres-mêmes (ourselves)

Collocations

  • nous-autres, on

Descendants

  • Louisiana Creole: nouzòt

See also

Further reading

  • Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)