Word.ws English Dictionary

you

/ju/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northumbria/jɪ/

you pronoun: the people spoken, or written to, as an object.

Pronoun (1)

you (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective, possessive determiner your, possessive pronoun yours, singular reflexive yourself, plural reflexive yourselves)

  1. (nominative, objective, plural, second-person, singular, object pronoun) The people spoken, or written to, as an object.
    • Both of you should get ready now.
    • I'll look up you and your sister.
  2. (US, colloquial, nominative, objective, plural, pronoun) (To) yourselves, (to) yourself.
    • If I may counsaile you, some day or two / Your Highnesse shall repose you at the Tower [...].c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • 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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis XIX
  3. (nominative, objective, plural, second-person, singular, object pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing thee; originally as a mark of respect.)
    • 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.c. 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VIII
  4. (nominative, objective, plural, pronoun, second-person, singular) The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing ye.)
    • You are all supposed to do as I tell you.
    • Are you excited? ― Yes, I am excited!2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
  5. (nominative, objective, plural, pronoun, second-person, singular) The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.)
    • You are right, Fanny, to protest against such an office, but you need not be afraid.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 208
  6. (colloquial, nominative, objective, plural, pronoun, second-person) A person's favorite sports team.
    • 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.
  7. (indefinite, nominative, objective, personal, plural, pronoun) Anyone, one; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object).
    • The ascent is precipitous, but the path is cut into continual and short windings, which enable you to surmount the perpendicularity of the mountain.1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume II, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding...
    • 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?2001 May 5, Polly Vernon, The Guardian
    Synonyms:
    one, people, they, them
  8. (indefinite, nominative, objective, personal, plural, pronoun) A dummy pronoun used in certain constructions, usually with verbs of receiving (such as get or find) or sensing (such as see or hear), typically stating the existence or typicality of something.
    • You get a lot of rude people in London.
    • It was one of those small-town dive bars you often read about.
    Synonyms:
    y'all, ye

Determiner

you

  1. The individual or group spoken or written to.
    • Have you gentlemen come to see the lady who fell backwards off a bus?
  2. Used before epithets, describing the person being addressed, for emphasis.
    • You idiot!
    • 'You genius!' I shouted in Aretta's ear. 'You absolute genius! Why didn't you tell us you were so good?'2015, Judi Curtin, Only Eva, The O'Brien Press, →ISBN
  3. (nonstandard) Your.
    • Tell me about ’e barber who shaved you hair so close,—was he kind to you?1899 August, E[lizabeth] Stuart Phelps [Ward], “Loveliness: A Story”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume LXXXIV, number DII, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...
    • “No. I need a ride into Buenos Aires. You remember what we arranged?” “You wife’s a-gonna give a-birt?” “That’s right. Are you free?”2002 [1997], Pablo Urbanyi, translated by Hugh Hazelton, “Entry 21: The Longest Day of the Year Begins”, in Sunset, Fredericton, N.B.: Broken Jaw Press, →ISBN, page 72

Verb

you (third-person singular simple present yous, present participle youing, simple past and past participle youed)

  1. (transitive) To address (a person) using the pronoun you (in the past, especially to use you rather than thou, when you was considered more formal).
    • 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.1930, Barrington Hall, Modern Conversation, Brewer & Warren, page 239
    • 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.1992, Barbara Anderson, Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, Victoria University Press, page 272

Noun

you (plural yous)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter U/u.
    • ‘Eff. You. En,’ said Mr Banstead. ‘Fun![…]’1969, Michael Feld, The Sabbatical Year, London: Alan Ross Ltd, page 301
    • 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."2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170

Pronoun (2) capitalized: You

You

  1. (honorific) Honorific alternative letter-case form of you, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.
    Synonyms:
    Thou

Proper noun capitalized: You

You (countable and uncountable, plural Yous)

  1. (countable) A surname from Chinese
  2. (historical) A former prefecture of China.
  3. (Chinese) Synonym of Youzhou, one of the Nine Provinces of Chinese legend.
    Synonyms:
    Youzhou, one of the Nine Provinces of Chinese legend

you meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

you in Hindi

object pronoun: the person being addressed
तुझ tujh, तुम tum, आप āp
subject pronoun: the person being addressed
तू tū, तुम tum, आप āp, तुइ tui
object pronoun: the group being addressed
तुम tum, आप āp
subject pronoun: the group being addressed
तुम tum, आप āp

you in Tamil

object pronoun: the person being addressed
உன்னை uṉṉai, உங்களை uṅkaḷai, தங்களை taṅkaḷai
subject pronoun: the person being addressed
நீ nī, நீங்கள் nīṅkaḷ, தாங்கள் tāṅkaḷ, நீர் nīr
indefinite personal pronoun: an unspecified individual or group of individuals
நீ nī, ஒருவர் oruvar
object pronoun: the group being addressed
உங்களை uṅkaḷai, தங்களை taṅkaḷai

you in Marathi

object pronoun: the group being addressed
तुम्ही tumhī, तू tū

you in Urdu

subject pronoun: the person being addressed
آپ āp, تُم tum, تُو tū
subject pronoun: the group being addressed
تُو tū, آپ āp
More languagesFewer languages
you in Bengali
তোকে tōke, তোমাকে tōmake, আপনাকে apnake, তুই tui
you in Telugu
నిన్ను ninnu, నీవు nīvu, మీరు mīru, నువ్వు nuvvu
you in Malayalam
നീ nī, താൻ tāṉ, താങ്കൾ tāṅkaḷ, നിങ്ങൾ niṅṅaḷ
you in Kannada
ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ninnannu, ನಿನಗೆ ninage, ನೀನು nīnu, ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು nimmannu
you in Punjabi
ਤੁਸੀਂ tusī̃
you in Gujarati
તમે tame
you in Odia
ତୋତେ tote, ତୁମକୁ tumaku, ଆପଣଙ୍କୁ āpaṇaṅku, ତୁ tu
you in Sinhala
ඔයා oyā, ඔබ oba, ඔයාලා oyālā, ඔබ සියල්ලන් oba siyallan
you in Assamese
তোক tük, তোমাক tümak, আপোনাক apünak, তই toi
you in Nepali
तिमी timī, तपाईँ tapāī̃, तिमीहरू timīharū
you in Pashto
تاسې tāsé, ته të
you in Tagalog
ka, ikaw, kita, kayo
you in Arabic
ـكَ -ka, ـكِ -ki, إِيَّاكَ ʔiyyāka, إِيَّاكِ ʔiyyāki
you in Malay
kamu, anda, awak, engkau
you in Indonesian
kamu, engkau, dikau, kau
you in Persian
تو را to râ, تُرا torâ, شُما را šomâ râ, شُمَا šumā
you in Thai
คุณ kun, เธอ təə, มึง mʉng, เอ็ง eng
you in Vietnamese
various
you in Myanmar
နင် nang, မင်း mang:, ခင်ဗျား hkangbya:, ရှင် hrang
Sindhi
تون tõ

Examples of you in a sentence

  • And Ioſeph ſaid vnto them, That is it that I ſpake vnto you, ſaying, Ye are ſpies.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 42:14, column 1:
  • 'Draw near, and wash you in the living flames, and take their virtue into your poor frames in all its virgin strength[.]'1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
  • You'd better get you a gun and kill him before he kills you or somebody.1975, Joseph Nazel, Death for Hire:
  • You find a lot of 'life' in the city but much of it is an act people are putting on.1973, Soldiers:

All 40 example sentences with you

Synonyms of you

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of you

Forms of you

determiner possessiveyour
possessive pronoun without-nounyours
singular reflexiveyourself
plural reflexiveyourselves
alternative pronunciation-spellingyoh
alternative pronunciation-spellingyoo
alternative West-Midlandsyow
plural alternative nominative (archaic, dialectal)ye
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)ya
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)yah
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)yer
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)yeh
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)y'
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)yo
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)yu
alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal)yuh
alternative pronunciation-spelling (obsolete)yew
alternative Internet (informal)u
alternative Internet (informal)yuo
alternative form (obsolete)youe

Origin of you

From Middle English you, yow, ȝow (object case of ye), from Old English ēow (“you”, dative case of ġē), from Proto-West Germanic *iwwi (“you”, dative case of *jiʀ), from Proto-Germanic *iwwiz (“you”, dative case of *jīz), the Western form of Proto-Germanic *izwiz (“you”, dative case of *jūz), from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs (“you”, plural). Cognate with Scots you (“you”), Saterland Frisian jou (“you”), West Frisian jo (“you”), Low German jo, joe and oe (“you”), Dutch jou and u (“you”), German euch (“you”), Middle High German eu, iu (“you”, object pronoun), Latin vōs (“you”), Avestan 𐬬𐬋 (vō, “you”), Ashkun yë̃ (“you”), Kamkata-viri šo (“you”), Sanskrit यूयम् (yūyám, “you”). See usage notes. Ye, you and your are cognate with Dutch jij/je, jou, jouw; Low German ji, jo/ju, jug and German ihr, euch and euer respectively. Ye is also cognate with Danish I and archaic Swedish I. Compare the shift to the second-person singular informal Spanish vos, historically a formal pronoun.

Capitalization of you.

From irregular, Wade–Giles, and Hanyu Pinyin romanizations of the Mandarin pronunciations of various Chinese characters, including 余, 于, 由 (yóu), 魚 /鱼 (yú) / 鱼 (yú), 漁 /渔 (yú), 渔 (yú), 楀 (yǔ), 俞, 喻, 兪, 於 /于, 遇 (yù), 虞 (yú), 郁 (yù), 尉, 禹 (yǔ), 游 (yóu), 尤 (yóu), 庾 (yǔ), 娛 /娱, 娱, 茹, 幽 (Yōu).

Words formed from you

Phrases with you

168 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with you

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about you

What does you mean?
You means the people spoken, or written to, as an object.
What is you in Hindi?
You in Hindi is तुझ (tujh), तुम (tum), आप (āp). See You meaning in Hindi.
How do you use you in a sentence?
And Ioſeph ſaid vnto them, That is it that I ſpake vnto you, ſaying, Ye are ſpies.
What part of speech is you?
You can be a pronoun, a determiner, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce you?
You is pronounced /ju/ (UK).

Words near you in the dictionary

  1. yotten
  2. yotting
  3. Yotvingian
  4. Yotvingians
  5. yotzei
  6. you
  7. you ain't seen nothing yet
  8. you all
  9. you alright
  10. you and what army
  11. you and which army

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: you (page history and authors); You (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-you unstressed.ogg, En-uk-you.ogg.

Cite this entry: “you.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/you. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.