Vousmêmes

Vousmêmes is a French emphatic pronoun formed by the personal pronoun vous combined with the intensifying adjective même. It functions to stress the addressee or a group including the addressee, and can be used in both singular and plural contexts depending on the form of vous.

Usage and syntax

The phrase typically acts as a disjunctive or subject-oriented pronoun. It can stand in subject position or be used after verbs with emphatic force, often after the verb ce sont or dans constructions like Ce sont vous-mêmes qui avez décidé. In imperative constructions, you may see Dites-le vous-mêmes, which emphasizes that the addressees should say it themselves. The form vous-même is used for a singular addressee, while vous-mêmes corresponds to a plural or collective address. Other reflexive-emphatic pairs follow the same pattern: moi-même, toi-même, nous-mêmes, eux-mêmes, elles-mêmes.

Orthography and related forms

The word is written with a hyphen: vous-mêmes. The linked form vous-même is the singular counterpart. This construction belongs to a broader set of emphatic pronouns built with même that can pair with different pronouns to highlight agency or identity.

Nuance and usage notes

Vousmêmes conveys insistence, solidarity, or accountability, signaling that the addressee(s) themselves are responsible or know better. It is common in formal and informal registers and is widely understood in everyday French. It contrasts with simply using vous, which has a less emphatic force.

Etymology

The intensifier même originates from Old French mesme and ultimately from Latin ipse, and has long been used in French to form emphatic pronouns with various personal pronouns.