You comes from the
Proto-Germanicdemonstrative base *juz-, *iwwiz from
Proto-Indo-European *yu- (second-person plural pronoun).[1]Old English had singular, dual, and plural second-person pronouns. The dual form was lost by the twelfth century,[2]: 117 and the singular form was lost by the early 1600s.[3] The development is shown in the following table.[2]: 117, 120, 121
Second-person pronoun in Old English,
Middle English, & Modern English
Early Modern English distinguished between the plural ye and the singular thou. As in many other European languages, English at the time had a
T–V distinction, which made the plural forms more respectful and deferential; they were used to address strangers and social superiors.[3] 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.[4]
Morphology
In
Standard Modern English, you has five shapes representing six distinct word
forms:[5]
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:
you guys [ju gajz~juɣajz] – United States,[9] particularly in the Midwest, Northeast, South Florida and West Coast;
Canada,
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.
You prototypically refers to the
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).[25]You is always
definite even when it is not
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,[26][27] is common when
talking to oneself.[28][29] 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.
You is used to refer to an indeterminate person, as a more common alternative to the very formal
indefinite pronounone.[30] 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, even when it is semantically singular.
^Howe, Stephen (1996). The Personal Pronouns in the Germanic Languages: A Study of Personal Morphology and Change in the Germanic Languages from the First Records to the Present Day. p. 174. Walter de Gruyter & Co.
ISBN978-3110146363
^Gammage, Kimberley L; Hardy, James; Hall, Craig R (October 2001). "A description of self-talk in exercise". Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2 (4): 233–247.
doi:
10.1016/S1469-0292(01)00011-5.
^Dolcos, Sanda; Albarracin, Dolores (October 2014). "The inner speech of behavioral regulation: Intentions and task performance strengthen when you talk to yourself as a You: Self-talk person and self-regulation". European Journal of Social Psychology. 44 (6): 636–642.
doi:
10.1002/ejsp.2048.