* ye (plural form, archaic or dialectal) * ya, yah, yer, yeh, y', yo, yu (informal or eye dialect) * -cha (informal, after _/t/_) * -ja (informal, after _/d/_) * u (informal, internet) * yoo (eye dialect) * yew (became obsolete as English spelling became more standardised, then was ‘recoined’ as a nonstandard variant for (chiefly humorous) use in informal situations and on the internet) * youe, yow, yowe (obsolete)

From Middle English _you_, _yow_, _ȝow_, (object case of _ye_), from Old English _ēow_, _īow_ ("you"; dative case of _ġē_), from _*iwwiz_ ("you"; dative case of _*jīz_), Western form of Proto-Germanic _*izwiz_ ("you"; dative case of _*jūz_), from Proto-Indo-European _*yūs_ (“you (plural)”), _*yū́_. Cognate with West Frisian _jo_ (“you”), Low German _jo_ (“you”), Dutch _jou_ and _u_ (“you”), Middle High German _eu_, _iu_ (“you”, obj. pron.), Latin _vōs_ (“you”), Avestan

* (stressed) * (UK) enPR: yo͞o, IPA: /juː/ * (US) enPR: yo͞o, IPA: /ju/ * Rhymes: -uː * (unstressed) * (US) enPR: yə, IPA: /jə/ * Homophones: ewe, u, yew, hew (in h-dropping dialects), hue (in h-dropping dialects) 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 _got_ _you_).

YOU (_second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective_, _possessive determiner_ YOUR, _possessive pronoun_ YOURS, _singular reflexive_ YOURSELF, _plural reflexive_ YOURSELVES) * (object pronoun) The people spoken, or written to, as an object. [from 9th c.] * 1611, _Bible_, Authorized (King James) Version. Genesis XLII: And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto YOU, saying, Ye are spies [...]. * (reflexive, now US colloquial) (To) yourselves, (to) yourself. [from 9th c.] * _c._ 1591, William Shakespeare, _Richard III_: If I may counsaile you, some day or two / Your Highnesse shall repose YOU at the Tower [...]. * 1611, _Bible_, Authorized (King James) Version. Genesis XIX: 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. * 1975, Joseph Nazel, _Death for Hire_: You'd better get YOU a gun and kill him before he kills you or somebody. * (object pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing _thee_; originally as a mark of respect.) [from 13th c.] * _c._ 1485, Thomas Malory, _Le Morte Darthur_, Book VIII: I charge YOU, as ye woll have my love, that ye warne your kynnesmen that ye woll beare that day the slyve of golde uppon your helmet. * (subject pronoun) The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing _ye_.) [from 14th c.] _Both of YOU should get ready now._ _YOU are all supposed to do as I tell you._ * (subject pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.) [from 15th c.] * _c._ 1395, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Clerk's Tale", _Canterbury Tales_, Ellesmere manuscript (c. 1410): certes lord / so wel vs liketh YOW / And al youre werk / and euere han doon / þat we / Ne koude nat vs self deuysen how / We myghte lyuen / in moore felicitee [...]. * 1814, Jane Austen, _Mansfield Park_: YOU are right, Fanny, to protest against such an office, but YOU need not be afraid. * (indefinite personal pronoun) Anyone, one; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object). [from 16th c.] * 2001, Polly Vernon, _The Guardian_, 5 May 2001: 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? USAGE NOTES * Originally, _you_ was specifically plural (indicating multiple people), and specifically objective (serving as the direct or indirect object of a verb, or object of a preposition; like present-day _us_, as opposed to _we_). The corresponding subjective pronoun was _ye_, and their corresponding singular pronouns were _thee_ and _thou_, respectively. (Thus _you_ was to _ye_, _thee_, and _thou_ as _us_ is to _we_, _me_, and _I_, respectively.) * In some forms of English, _you_ and _ye_ have doubled as plural forms and as polite singular forms, used in addressing superiors and (in some forms) equals, with _thee_ and _thou_ being the non-polite singular forms. Such alternation, insofar as it still exists, is now only dialectal: in present-day English, _thee_ and _thou_ are all but nonexistent. * Although _you_ no longer distinguishes singular from plural, various forms of English have marked plural forms, such as _you guys_, _y'all_, or _youse_ (though not all of these are completely equivalent or considered Standard English). * The pronoun _you_ is usually omitted in imperative sentences, but need not be. In affirmative imperatives, 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