Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word you. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word you, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say you in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word you you have here. The definition of the word you will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofyou, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
When a word ending in /t/, /d/, /s/, or /z/ is followed by you, these may coalesce with the /j/, resulting in /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/, respectively. This is occasionally represented in writing, e.g. gotcha (from gotyou) or whatchadoin'? (more formally whatareyoudoing?).
Pronoun
you (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective, possessive determineryour, possessive pronounyours, singular reflexiveyourself, plural reflexiveyourselves)
(object pronoun) The people spoken, or written to, as an object.
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.
I get that you're from Southeast Michigan, but I'm still surprised that you're a Detroit Lions fan. You have been on the receiving end of losing seasons for a while now.
You can't choose your family, your lovers are difficult and volatile, but, oh, you can choose your friends - so doesn't it make much more sense to live and holiday with them instead?
It was one of those small-town dive bars you often read about.
1973, Soldiers:
You find a lot of 'life' in the city but much of it is an act people are putting on.
2018 October 4, Javier Marías, Berta Isla, Penguin UK, →ISBN:
You get some terrible bullies in Spanish villages too , and they'll doubtless grow up to be complete oafs.
2018 January 16, Rick Wolff, Secrets of Sports Psychology Revealed: Proven Techniques to Elevate Your Performance, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
You often hear about athletes having the jitters before a game, or having butterflies in their stomach.
Usage notes
Originally, you was specifically plural (indicating multiple people), and specifically the object form (serving as the object of a verb or preposition; like us as opposed to we). The subject pronoun was ye, and the corresponding singular pronouns were thee and thou, respectively. In some forms of (older) English, you and ye doubled as polite singular forms, e.g. used in addressing superiors, with thee and thou being the non-polite singular forms. In the 1600s, some writers objected to the use of "singular you"[1] (compare objections to the singular they), but in modern (non-dialect) English thee and thou are archaic and all but nonexistent and you is used for both the singular and the plural.
Several forms of English now distinguish singular you from various marked plural forms, such as you guys, y'all, you-uns, or youse, though not all of these are completely equivalent or considered Standard English.
The pronoun you is usually, but not always, omitted in imperative sentences. In affirmatives, it may be included before the verb (You go right ahead; You stay out of it); in negative imperatives, it may be included either before the don't, or (more commonly) after it (Don't you dare go in there; Don't you start now).
The pronoun you is also used in an indefinite sense: the generic you.
you (third-person singular simple presentyous, present participleyouing, simple past and past participleyoued)
(transitive) To address (a person) using the pronounyou (in the past, especially to use you rather than thou, when you was considered more formal).
1930, Barrington Hall, Modern Conversation, Brewer & Warren, page 239:
Youing consists in relating everything in the conversation to the person you wish to flatter, and introducing the word “you” into your speech as often as possible.
1992, Barbara Anderson, Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, Victoria University Press, page 272:
Now even Princess Anne had dropped it. Sarah had heard her youing away on television the other night just like the inhabitants of her mother’s dominions beyond the seas.
2004, Ellen Miller, “Practicing”, in Brooklyn Noir, Akashic Books:
But even having my very own personal pronoun was risky, because it’s pretty tough to keep stopped-hope stopped up when you are getting all youed up, when someone you really like keeps promising you scary, fun, exciting stuff—and even tougher for the of that moment to remain securely devoid of hope, to make smart, self-denying decisions with Dad youing me—the long ooo of it broad and extended, like a hand.
1969, Michael Feld, The Sabbatical Year, London: Alan Ross Ltd, page 301:
‘Eff. You. En,’ said Mr Banstead. ‘Fun![…]’
2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:
It said, in a whispering, buzzing voice, "Gee-you-ess-ess-ay-dash-em-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-em-eye-en-gee-oh-dash-pee-eye-pee-dash-pee-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-pee-eye-en-gee-oh."
^ The British Friend (November 1st, 1861), notes: "In 1659, Thomas Ellwood, Milton's friend and scoretary, thus expresses himself—“ The corrupt and unsound form of speaking in the plural number to a single person, you to one instead of thou, contrary to the pure, plain, and simple language ..."
transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66
Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66