"we" in seven languages

Meaningwe

Spanish

nosotros

/noˈsotɾos/

inherited

fem.: nosotras

NŌS + ALTERŌS, 'we others'; plain nos survives as the object pronoun.

French

nous

/nu/

inherited

In speech, on usually replaces nous: on y va.

Italian

noi

/noi/

inherited

Portuguese

nós

/nɔs/

inherited

In speech Brazilians often say a gente 'the people' instead.

Romanian

noi

/noj/

inherited

Catalan

nosaltres

/nuˈzaltɾəs/

inherited

NŌS + ALTERŌS 'we others', exactly like Spanish nosotros.

English

/wi/

native English · Old English wē

Native 'us' is the distant cognate of NŌS.

English → ItalianwenoiNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

NŌS‘we, us’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

Spanish added otros 'others' to make 'we-others', and the result marks gender: nosotros, nosotras. Catalan made the same move (nosaltres).