Modern English Modern English, sometimes called New English (NE) or present-day English (PDE) as opposed to Middle and Old English, is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England England is a Count ...

, the word "''you''" is the second-person

pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...

. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the

dative case In grammar, the dative case ( abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a drink". In this examp ...

, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers.

History

''You'' comes from the

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

demonstrative Demonstratives (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) are words, such as ''this'' and ''that'', used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typically deictic, their meaning ...

base , from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

(second-person plural pronoun).

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

had singular, dual, and plural second-person pronouns. The dual form was lost by the twelfth century, and the singular form was lost by the early 1600s. The development is shown in the following table.

Early Modern English Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated EModEFor example, or EMnE) or Early New English (ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transit ...

distinguished between the plural ' and the singular '. As in many other European languages, English at the time had a

T–V distinction The T–V distinction is the contextual use of different pronouns that exists in some languages and serves to convey formality or familiarity. Its name comes from the Latin pronouns '' tu'' and '' vos''. The distinction takes a number of forms ...

, which made the plural forms more respectful and deferential; they were used to address strangers and social superiors. This distinction ultimately led to familiar ''thou'' becoming obsolete in modern English, although it persists in some English dialects. ''Yourself'' had developed by the early 14th century, with the plural ''yourselves'' attested from 1520.

Morphology

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

Modern English, ''you'' has five shapes representing six distinct word forms: * ''you'': the

nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...

(subjective) and

accusative In grammar, the accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: "me", "him", "her", " ...

(objective or

oblique case In grammar, an oblique ( abbreviated ; from ) or objective case ( abbr. ) is a nominal case other than the nominative case and, sometimes, the vocative. A noun or pronoun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role except as subject, ...

) forms * ''your:'' the dependent

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

(possessive) form * ''yours'': the independent genitive (possessive) form * ''yourselves'': the plural reflexive and

intensive In grammar, an intensive word form is one which denotes stronger, more forceful, or more concentrated action relative to the root on which the intensive is built. Intensives are usually lexical formations, but there may be a regular process for for ...

(emphatic) form * ''yourself'': the singular reflexive and intensive (emphatic) form

Plural forms from other varieties

Although there is some dialectal retention of the original plural ''ye'' and the original singular ''thou'', most English-speaking groups have lost the original forms. Because of the loss of the original singular-plural distinction, many English dialects belonging to this group have innovated new plural forms of the second person pronoun. Examples of such pronouns sometimes seen and heard include: * ''y'all'', or ''you all'' – Southern American English, southern United States, African-American Vernacular English, the Abaco Islands, Saint Helena, St. Helena and Tristan da Cunha. ''Y'all'' however, is also occasionally used for the second-person singular in the North American varieties. * ' – United States, particularly in the Midwest, Northeast, South Florida and West Coast; Canadian English, Canada, Australian English, Australia. Gendered usage varies; for mixed groups, "you guys" is nearly always used. For groups consisting of only women, forms like "you girls" or "you gals" might appear instead, though "you guys" is sometimes used for a group of only women as well. * ' – British English, United Kingdom, Palmerston Island, Australia * ''you mob'' – Australia * '', all-you'' – Caribbean English, Saban English, Saba * ''a(ll)-yo-dis'' – Guyana * ''allyuh'' – Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidad and Tobago * ''among(st)-you'' – Carriacou, Grenada, Guyana, Útila, Utila * ' – Barbados * ''yinna'' – The Bahamas, Bahamas * ''/oona'' – Jamaican English, Jamaica, Belize, Cayman Islands English, Cayman Islands, Barbados, San Salvador Island * ' – Hiberno-English, Ireland, Geordie, Tyneside, Scouse, Merseyside, Central Scotland, Australia, Falkland Islands English, Falkland Islands, New Zealand English, New Zealand, Philadelphia English, Philadelphia, parts of the Midwestern United States, Midwestern US, Cape Breton Island, Cape Breton and rural Canada * ''yous(e) guys'' – in the United States, particularly in New York City English, New York City region, Philadelphia, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; * ''Yinz, you-uns, or yinz'' – Western Pennsylvania English, Western Pennsylvania, the Ozarks, the Appalachian English, Appalachians * ''ye (pronoun), ye, ,'' '','' ' – Ireland, Tyneside, Newfoundland and Labrador

Semantics

''You'' prototypically refers to the Grammatical person, addressee along with zero or more other persons, excluding the speaker. ''You'' is also used to refer to personified things (e.g., ''why won't you start?'' addressed to a car). ''You'' is always Definiteness, definite even when it is not Specificity (linguistics), specific. Semantically, ''you'' is both singular and plural, though syntactically it is almost always plural: i.e. always takes a verb form that originally marked the word as plural, (i.e. ''you are'', in common with ''we are'' and ''they are'').

First person usage

The practice of referring to oneself as ''you'', occasionally known as ''tuism'', is common when talking to oneself. It is less common in conversations with others, as it could easily result in confusion. Since English lacks a distinct first person singular imperative mood, ''you'' and ''let's'' function as substitutes.

Third person usage

''You'' is used to refer to an indeterminate person, as a more common alternative to the very formal indefinite pronoun ''One (pronoun), one''. Though this may be semantically third person, for agreement purposes, ''you'' is always second person. :Example: "''One'' should drink water frequently" or "''You'' should drink water frequently".

Syntax

Agreement

''You'' almost always triggers plural verb Agreement (linguistics), agreement, even when it is semantically singular.

Functions

''You'' can appear as a Subject (grammar), subject, Object (grammar), object, determiner or Complement (linguistics), predicative complement. The reflexive form also appears as an Adjunct (grammar), adjunct. ''You'' occasionally appears as a Grammatical modifier, modifier in a noun phrase. * Subject: ''You're there''; ''your being there''; ''you paid for yourself to be there.'' * Object: ''I saw you''; ''I introduced her to you; You saw yourself.'' * Predicative complement: ''The only person there was you; this is yours.'' * Determiner: ''I met your friend.'' * Adjunct: ''You did it yourself.'' * Modifier: ''This sounds like a you problem.''

Dependents

Pronouns rarely take Phrase structure grammar#Dependency relation, dependents, but it is possible for ''you'' to have many of the same kind of dependents as other noun phrases. * Relative clause modifier: ''you who believe'' * Determiner: ''the real you''; ''*the you'' * Adjective phrase modifier: ''the real you''; ''*real you'' * Adverbial phrase, Adverb phrase external modifier: ''Not even you''

References

{{Modern English personal pronouns, DIRECTOR=, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY= Modern English personal pronouns Second-person plural pronouns in English English pronouns English words