Is there a pronoun "you" in English?

MAKHLIN P.Ya.

Anyone who starts learning English notices that the forms of "you" and "you" in English are the same:you. What does it mean? Do the English really not distinguish between "you" and "you"? In fact, this state of affairs in English is only 3 centuries old, earlier in English, as in other European languages, there was a special pronoun "you"thou. How did it happen that for many centuries the English have become the most polite people and do not allow the familiar "you"?

Where did this tradition come from to call a respected (older) person on you? And everything is very simple: it turns out that the reason for the emergence of such appeals is the solemnity of the letter. Anyone who has come across scientific monographs has probably noticed that they are always written in the plural: "as it seems to us ... in our opinion ... we believe ...". Although the author can be one person. This tradition is more than two thousand years old. For greater solemnity of style, Roman authors wrote in this way, speaking of themselves in the plural. So wrote, for example, Cicero and many others.

How, you say, does this pompous style relate to the polite "you"? And the most immediate: by analogy, “I” > “we” began to use instead of “you” - “You”. Thus, since III centuries of the new era began to address the emperor - to emphasize the importance of his position. And already with 5th century new era, the appeal to "you" to superiors became ubiquitous in the Roman Empire.

Hence "you" as a polite form was borrowed into the Romance languages. And among them in French, wherevous"you" also means polite treatment. Probably in Russian You received such a value under the refined French influence. It was this influence that led to the fact that in English with 8th century thou "you" began to be considered too rude and began to be used in literary English you both in the meaning of "you" and "you". So English became the most polite language in Europe.

Curiously, Romance languages ​​other than French have developed specific forms of polite address. So in Italian "you" is conveyed by the pronoun Lei ( Literally: "she"). The fact is that in the Middle Ages there was a special appeal to a person who occupied morehigh position:Vostra Signoria"Your grace." Lei ("she") and replaces such a noble combination in modern Italian. Apparently, the situation is similar in the German language, whereSiemeans both "she" and "you" and "they".

And in Spanish, such a polite phrase was not replaced by the pronoun "she", but was greatly reduced in pronunciation. Even before XVII century in spanish yke said Vuesa merced"Your grace." Subsequently, this phrase was first reduced toVuesausted and, finally, acquired the form of modern Spanish yka: Usted"You".

But, be that as it may, none of the Romance languages ​​went so far as to completely abolish the pronoun "you", so that English has rightfully become the most courteous language in Europe.

>Questions and answers >

In English, is everything on "you" or is it still on "you"?

Here you can find out - in English everything is on "you" or still on "you".

We are taught in school that there is no word for "you" in English. You replaces both "you" and "you".

Yes, this is true, but some subtleties of treatment in English should be taken into account.

1) In English until the 17th century there was a word you - thou. Today it can be found in poetry, prayers and other literature. Moreover, philologists have also discovered that in the Middle Ages the forms thy - yours and thee - you, you.

2) When studying English, you will see that the difference in pronouns you, you is preserved in reflexive pronouns, where pronouns are used yourself - you yourself, you yourself and yourselves - you yourself.

3) In English, instead of the pair you - you, there are many other ways to address the interlocutor. Among them, an indication of the title, interlocutor, address by last name, the use of the words Mr., Mrs., Sir, etc.

Empty you hearty you
She, having spoken, replaced,
And all the happy dreams
Aroused in the soul of a lover.
Before her, I stand thoughtfully,
There is no power to take your eyes off her;
And I say to her: how sweet you are!
And I think: how I love you!

you and you
A.S. Pushkin

Probably the first thing a beginner learns in class is the fact that there is no formal distinction between the forms you and you in English. The English perfectly bypass one, short pronoun you.

But the question arises, has it always been so simple? And what strange forms are found in poetry? Maybe these are typos?

The fact is that the English language, like any other, is constantly evolving, changing grammatically, lexically, phonetically, and so on. This path is not always associated with the acquisition of a new one, it happens that old, long-"worn out" forms are left behind.

If W. Shakespeare had been given a newspaper of our day, he would hardly have read it easily.

But back to you.

Many years ago, the British made a distinction between "you" And "you". It looked like this:

For example, in sonnet 3 V. Shakespeare refers to the Friend on "you":

Look in your glass and tell the face thou viewsest
Now is the time that face should form another;
Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest,
Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.
For where is she so fair whose unear "d womb
Disdains the tillage of your husbandry?
Or who is he so fond of will be the tomb
Of his self-love, to stop posterity?
Thou art your mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime:
So thou through windows of thin age see shall
Despite this wrinkles thy golden time.
But if thou live, remember "d not to be,
Die single and thin image dies with thee.

However, in the Middle Ages, the plural forms - Ye and You - became widespread. They were used to express respect and reverence, especially in relation to officials, important people. The popularity of plural forms, one might say, ruined the singular pronouns - thou and thee (by the way, it was the pronoun thou that would correspond to Russian you), since already by 1600. they acquired a tinge of familiarity and soon fell into disuse altogether, surviving only in poetry and in the Bible.

It is worth noting that the pronoun "you" appeared in Russian only in the 16th century.

But to this day, in some dialects, there are separate "you" And "you". For example, in Lancashire and Yorkshire, thu/tha is found as the nominative singular and thee as the object singular.

Hello! The USA is a country of great human possibilities and limitless offers. Therefore, every year millions of foreigners visit America for various purposes: to get rich, to study, to have fun, to find the American dream, etc. But no matter what goal you pursue, knowledge of spoken American is simply necessary. And a series of audio lessons "So they say in America" ​​or "English USA" will help you learn the spoken English of Americans.

The question "Where are you from?" and answer in English

One of the most popular questions that you will have to hear upon arrival in the United States is the phrase " Where are you from?" or " Where are you from?". Therefore, in our field of vision today the question " Where are you from? and possible answers to it. In addition to the new expressions of this lesson, we will remember and repeat the vocabulary of past lessons in order to consolidate the learned words and phrases in English.

Today's conversation is an interview that Martin Lerner takes with a student from Poland - Stefan Nowak. You will study the segment in which a VOA staffer asks a Polish student where he is from and where he currently lives. Martin and Stefan are talking in a restaurant, the waiter, having heard their dialogue, is also included in the conversation:

Martin: Where are you from? — Where will you be from?
Stephan: I am from Poland. - I am from Poland.
Martin: What city are you from? - And from what city?
Stephan:I am from Cracow. — From Krakow.
Martin: Where do you live now? - Where do you live now?
Stefan:I live in Baltimore now. I currently live in Baltimore. (Florida)
waitress: I lived in Florida last year - I lived in Florida last year. (Waitress)

Remember also the online lesson Learning to say thank you and say goodbye

Read the dialogue a few times and then listen to its voice acting. In addition to the conversation between Martin and Stefan, you will also hear how all the vocabulary in this online lesson is pronounced correctly:

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Follow the speaker's instructions step by step to make the learning process as simple and effective as possible. Listening to how ordinary Americans pronounce the words, repeat all the phrases after them to practice pronunciation.

Where do you come from? - in English

Use the handy table to learn common American English phrases, as well as nouns, verbs, prepositions, and other useful words and expressions that are directly related to the topic of the lesson.

Where are you from?
Phrases
Call me... call me...	Call me...
Let's…	Let’s…
Let's listen	Let's listen
She said…	She said…
Have a seat	Sit down
Verbs
live	live
lived / lived	lived
tape	record
work	work
worked / worked	worked
learn, study	study
spell	spell
sit	sit
write	write
Nouns
city/cities	city/cities
Waiter	waiter
waitress	waitress
office, office, office	office
Museum	Museum
record player	tape recorder
student	student
director	director
coffee	coffee
cups of coffee	coffees
river	river
hospital	hospital
management of medical facilities	health administration
music	music
musician	musician
university	university
Prepositions
from	from
Where are you from?	Where are you from?
What town are you from?	What city are you from?

The table, although it seems large in volume, is actually very easy to learn, since you already know most of the lexemes. Therefore, be patient and start memorizing words and phrases in English from the table.

Remember also an interesting article

Anyone who starts learning English, sees that the forms "you" and "you" are the same in it is you. The question arises: do the British really not distinguish between these "you" and "you"? In fact, English has been this way for only three centuries. Earlier in this language, as in other European languages, there was a pronoun "you" thou. What happened, after which the British turned into the most polite people, completely eliminating this familiar "you"?

First, let's remember where such a tradition came from - to call a person on you? It turns out that the whole point is in the solemnity of the letter. Anyone who has read scientific monographs probably knows that they are presented in the plural. For example: "as it seems to us ... we believe ... in our opinion." In this case, often the author is one person. This tradition is over two thousand years old. For greater solemnity of style, this is how Roman authors began to write (for example, Cicero and others).

But let me ask you, what does this pompous style have to do with polite address to "you"? The most direct: following the analogy "I" > "we", they adopted instead of "you" - "You". So they began to address the emperor from the 3rd century AD, in order to emphasize his high position. And from the 5th century AD, such treatment in the Roman Empire in relation to superiors became widespread.

This is where the polite form of "you" comes from in the Romance languages. So she got into, which subsequently had her exquisite influence on. The same influence changed the English language in the 17th century. thou"you're on you"You", because the former treatment was considered too rude. Then the literary language acquired a new and ubiquitous appeal to "you". And English has become the most polite language in Europe.

Interestingly, other Romance languages, besides French, are distinguished by their special forms of polite address. For example, the Italian language uses the pronoun Lei ("she") to address "you". The thing is that during the Middle Ages, someone who held a high position was addressed: "Your Grace." Therefore, today Lei (“she”) is a substitute for such a noble combination in Italian. This seems to be the case in German as well, where Sie has three meanings - "she", "you" and "they".

But in Spanish, this courteous phrase was not replaced by the pronoun “she”, however, it was reduced in pronunciation. Until the 17th century, they said Vuesa merced, which means "Your Grace". This phrase was later changed to Vuesausted, and then it took on a modern look: Usted"You" (abbreviated to Ud and capitalized).

Be that as it may, the pronoun "you" has not been completely abolished in any of the Romance languages, so English is rightfully the most courteous of all the languages ​​​​of Europe.