lautre

Lautre is not a standard standalone term in French. The correct form is l’autre, which means “the other.” It is used to refer to the second person or thing in contrast to one previously mentioned, or to distinguish a specific item from another.

Origin and form: l’ is the elision of le or la before a vowel, and autre is an adjective meaning other or another. The combination yields l’autre, used for both masculine and feminine nouns in the definite sense. The plural form is les autres, meaning “the others.” In contrast, un autre means “another” and une autre means “another” in feminine gender.

Usage: L’autre serves as a determiner or a pronoun. It can denote the second option or person, as in “L’autre côté est plus sûr” (The other side is safer), or function as a pronoun, as in “C’est l’autre qui a gagné” (That is the other one who won). It contrasts with the first or with a previously identified item. The noun remains explicit through agreement with surrounding context, while autre without the definite article is used in phrases like un autre livre or une autre histoire.

Note: Without an apostrophe, “lautre” is generally a misspelling in French and not recognized as a separate word. It can appear as a proper noun in non-French contexts, but in standard French, l’autre is the correct form.

See also: l’autre, autre, les autres.