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Sarah
Polite form of "you"?
Hi everybody,
I'm wondering if there is a polite form of "you"? Like in German "du" (informal) and "Sie" (formal, polite, used for people you don't know, are older than you or for people you respect or have to respect like your boss).
Does sth like that exist in English, eve if it's not used in daily life?
Thank you i advance :)
Jun 19, 2013 4:20 AM
Answers · 6
2
Originally, the polite form of "you" in English was "ye," and the informal form was "thou." Although "thou" may appear to be the formal version of "you" because it is often used in religious ceremonies and when addressing God (in the King James Bible), it is actually the informal form. As a Germanic language, Old English shares similarities with modern German. "Thou" is lexically similar to "Du" and "Ye" rhymes with "Sie."
Note that French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Scottish Gaelic (all of which maintain the use of an "informal" singular form of the second person in modern speech) all use the second person informal form to address God. So it is not particularly surprising that the King James Bible used the second person informal "thou" to address God as well.
June 19, 2013
2
No- modern English doesn't have a formal you.
In old English there were a variety of words used for you such as 'thou' or 'thee'. However these words aren't used anymore.
There are more formal/polite ways to structure a sentence.
Often phrasing a command as a question can be considered more formal.
eg. Can you pass me the salt
Would it be possible for you to please pass me the salt.
Alternatively using the passive voice is considered more polite.
eg. You broke my bike
My bike was broken by you.
hope that helps
June 19, 2013
Yes, originally it was "thou", "thee" "thy" and "thine" (nominative, accusative, genitive, genitive adj.) You can still read in the King James Bible these forms.
June 19, 2013
Also, Timmy is right - both "you" and "ye" were the polite forms in the past. In modern English, we only have "you" for everyone. (Thought I would clarify that in addition to 'ye', 'you' itself was also the formal form. I guess modern English kept only the formal form for daily use).
June 19, 2013
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Sarah
Language Skills
French, German
Learning Language
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