In classical Latin, was originally the singular, and the plural, with no distinction for honorific or familiar. According to Brown and Gilman, the
Roman emperors began to be addressed as
vos in the 4th century AD. They mention the possibility that this was because there were two emperors at that time (
in Constantinople and
in Rome), but also mention that "plurality is a very old and ubiquitous metaphor for power." This usage was extended to other powerful figures, such as
Pope Gregory I (590–604). However, Brown and Gilman note that it was only between the 12th and 14th centuries that the norms for the use of T- and V-forms crystallized. Less commonly, the use of the plural may be extended to other
grammatical persons, such as the "
royal we" (majestic plural) in English. Brown and Gilman argued that the choice of form is governed by either relationships of "power" or "solidarity," depending on the culture of the speakers, showing that "power" had been the dominant predictor of form in Europe until the 20th century. Thus, it was quite normal for a powerful person to use a
T-form but expect a
V-form in return. However, in the 20th century the dynamic shifted in favour of solidarity, so that people would use
T-forms with those they knew, and
V-forms in service encounters, with reciprocal usage being the norm in both cases.
Early history: the power semantic In the
Early Middle Ages (the 5th century to the 10th century), the pronoun was used to address the most exalted figures, emperors and popes, who would use the pronoun to address a subject. This use was progressively extended to other states and societies, and down the social hierarchy as a mark of respect to individuals of higher rank, religious authority, greater wealth, or seniority within a family. The development was slow and erratic, but a consistent pattern of use is estimated to have been reached in different European societies by the period 1100 to 1500. Use of
V spread to upper-class individuals of equal rank, but not to lower class individuals. This may be represented in Brown and Gilman's notation:
Modification: the solidarity semantic Speakers developed greater flexibility of pronoun use by redefining relationships between individuals. Instead of defining the father–son relationship as one of power, it could be seen as a shared family relationship. Brown and Gilman term this the semantics of solidarity. Thus a speaker might have a choice of pronoun, depending on how they perceived the relationship with the person addressed. Thus a speaker with superior power might choose
V to express fellow feeling with a subordinate. For example, a restaurant customer might use
V to their favourite waiter. Similarly, a subordinate with a friendly relationship of long standing might use
T. For example, a child might use
T to express affection for their parent. This may be represented as: These choices were available not only to reflect permanent relationships, but to express momentary changes of attitude. This allowed playwrights such as
Racine,
Molière,
Ben Jonson,
Christopher Marlowe and
William Shakespeare to express a character's inner changes of mood through outward changes of pronoun. For centuries, it was the more powerful individual who chose to address a subordinate either with
T or with
V, or to allow the subordinate to choose. For this reason, the pronouns were traditionally defined as the "pronoun of either condescension or intimacy" (
T) and "the pronoun of reverence or formality" (
V). Brown and Gilman argue that modern usage no longer supports these definitions.
Modern history Developments from the 19th century have seen the solidarity semantic applied more consistently. It has become less acceptable for a more powerful individual to exercise the choice of pronoun. Officers in most armies are not permitted to address a soldier as
T. Most European parents cannot oblige their children to use
V. The relationships illustrated above have changed in the direction of the following norms: The tendency to promote the solidarity semantic may lead to the abolition of any choice of address pronoun. During the
French Revolution, attempts were made to abolish
V. In 17th century England, the
Society of Friends obliged its members to use only
T to everyone, and some continue to use
T (
thee) to one another. In most Modern English dialects, the use of
T is archaic and no longer exists outside of poetry or dialect.
Changes in progress It was reported in 2012 that use of the
French and the
Spanish are in decline in
social media. An explanation offered was that such online communications favour the philosophy of
social equality, regardless of usual formal distinctions. Similar tendencies were observed in
German,
Persian,
Chinese,
Italian, and
Estonian.
History of use in individual languages English The
Old English and
Early Middle English second person pronouns and (with variants) were used for singular and plural reference respectively with no
T–V distinction. The earliest entry in the
Oxford English Dictionary for
ye as a
V pronoun in place of the singular
thou exists in a
Middle English text of 1225 composed in 1200. The usage may have started among the
Norman French nobility in imitation of
Old French. It made noticeable advances during the second half of the 13th century. During the 16th century, the distinction between the
subject form
ye and the
object form
you was largely lost, leaving
you as the usual
V pronoun (and plural pronoun). After 1600, the use of
ye in standard English outside of regional dialects was confined to literary and religious contexts or as a consciously archaic usage.
David Crystal summarises
Early Modern English usage thus:
V would normally be used • by people of lower social status to those above them • by the upper classes when talking to each other, even if they were closely related • as a sign of a change (contrasting with
thou) in the emotional temperature of an interaction
T would normally be used • by people of higher social status to those below them • by the lower classes when talking to each other • in addressing God or Jesus • in talking to ghosts, witches, and other supernatural beings • in an imaginary address to someone who was absent • as a sign of a change (contrasting with
you) in the emotional temperature of an interaction The
T–V distinction was still well preserved when Shakespeare began writing at the end of the 16th century. However, other playwrights of the time made less use of
T–V contrasts than Shakespeare. The infrequent use of
T in popular writing earlier in the century such as the
Paston Letters suggest that the distinction was already disappearing from gentle speech. In the first half of the 17th century,
thou disappeared from
Standard English, although the
T–V distinction was preserved in many regional dialects. When the
Quakers began using
thou again in the middle of the century, many people were still aware of the old
T–V distinction and responded with derision and physical violence. In the 19th century, one aspect of the
T–V distinction was restored to some English dialects in the form of a pronoun that expressed friendly solidarity, written as ''
y'all. Unlike earlier thou'', it was used primarily for plural address, and in some dialects for singular address as well. The pronoun was first observed in the southern states of the US, although its precise origin is obscure. The pronoun spread rapidly throughout the southern states, and (to a lesser extent) other regions of the US and beyond. This pronoun is not universally accepted, and may be regarded as either nonstandard or a regionalism.
Yous(e) (pron. , ) as a plural is found mainly in
(Northern) England,
Scotland, parts of
Ireland,
Australia,
New Zealand,
South Africa, northern
Nova Scotia and parts of
Ontario in Canada and parts of the northeastern United States (especially areas where there was historically Irish or Italian immigration), including in
Boston,
Philadelphia,
New York, and scattered throughout working-class communities in the American
Rust Belt.
French In
Old French texts, the pronouns and are often used interchangeably to address an individual, sometimes in the same sentence. However, some emerging pattern of use has been detected by recent scholars. Between characters equal in age or rank, was more common than as a singular address. However, was sometimes used to put a young man in his place, or to express temporary anger. There may also have been variation between Parisian use and that of other regions. In the
Middle French period, a relatively stable
T–V distinction emerged.
Vous was the
V form used by upper-class speakers to address one another, while was the
T form used among lower class speakers. Upper-class speakers could choose to use either
T or
V when addressing an inferior. Inferiors would normally use
V to a superior. However, there was much variation; in 1596,
Étienne Pasquier observed in his comprehensive survey that the French sometimes used to inferiors as well as to superiors "" ("according to our natural tendencies"). In poetry, was often used to address kings or to speak to God.
German In
German,
Du is only used as an informal pronoun. It is only addressed to persons that one knows well, like family members and friends. It is also most commonly used among peers as a sign of equality, especially among young people. In formal situations with strangers and acquaintances,
Sie is used instead. "Ihr" was also used in formal situations; this was once the abundant usage, but it has completely fallen out of use. In the plural form, "ihr" is used as the "T" pronoun and "Sie" is used as the "V" pronoun; "Ihr" and "Sie" are capitalized when they are used as the "V" pronoun.
Scandinavian languages A
T–V distinction was once widespread in the
North Germanic languages but its use began rapidly declining in the second half of the 20th century, coinciding with the
1960s youth rebellion. The use of the
V variant in
Danish has declined dramatically, but as of 2023 not completely disappeared. In the
Western Hindi dialects, a fourth level of formality (semi-formal), which is intermediate between आप آپ (āp) and तुम تم (tum), is created when the pronoun आप آپ (āp) is used with the conjugations of तुम تم (tum). However, this form is strictly dialectal and is not used in standard versions of Urdu and Hindi.
Use of names The boundaries between formal and informal language differ from language to language, as well as within social groups of the speakers of a given language. In some circumstances, it is not unusual to call other people by first name and the respectful form, or last name and familiar form. For example, German teachers used to use the former construct with upper-secondary students, while Italian teachers typically use the latter (switching to a full V-form with university students). This can lead to constructions denoting an intermediate level of formality in T–V-distinct languages that sound awkward to English-speakers. In Italian, can be addressed with the (familiar) form or the (formal) one, but complete addresses range from (peer to peer or family) and (teacher to high-school student, as stated above) to (live-in servant to master or master's son) and (senior staff member to junior) and (among peers and to seniors). == Usage in language ==