Learn French: Vous êtes des amis.

Vous êtes des amis.

You are friends.

Breakdown of Vous êtes des amis.

some (plural indefinite)

Questions & Answers about Vous êtes des amis.

Why is there a des in this sentence when the English translation is just "You are friends"?

In English, we usually drop the article for plural nouns (we say "a friend" but just "friends"). In French, you almost always need an article before a noun! Des is the plural of un or une. You can think of it as meaning "some," but you must use it in French even when we wouldn't say "some" in English.

How do I pronounce des amis? Do I say the "s"?

Yes, you pronounce the "s" at the end of des, but it sounds like a "z". Because des ends in a consonant and amis starts with a vowel, they link together smoothly. This linking is called a liaison. You pronounce it like "dez-ah-mee". The final "s" in amis remains silent.

Since vous can mean a formal singular "you", could this sentence be talking to just one person?

Not in this case! Because des amis is plural ("friends"), vous has to be plural here, meaning "you all" or "you guys". If you were talking to one person formally, you would say Vous êtes un ami (You are a friend).

Does des amis mean male friends specifically, or can it be a mixed group?

It can be either! Amis is used for a group of male friends, or a mixed group of both men and women. If it were a group of only female friends, you would add an extra "e" to make it des amies. Both are pronounced exactly the same!