Belarusian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old Belarusian вы (vy), from Old East Slavic вы (vy), from Proto-Slavic *vy.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [vɨ]
  • Audio:(file)

Pronoun

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вы (vy)

  1. you (plural or formal)

Declension

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Carpathian Rusyn

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Etymology

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From Proto-Slavic *vy, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́.

Pronoun

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вы ()

  1. second-person singular formal, as well as second-person plural, nominative case:you
    Як ся Вы сам чуєте в ролї учітеля материньского языка?Jak sja sam čujete v rolji učitelja materynʹskoho jazŷka?How do you feel in the role of a teacher of your native language?

Further reading

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Kabardian

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Etymology

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Compare Adyghe цу (cʷu).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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вы ()

  1. ox
  2. bull (Animal)

Declension

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Russian

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Alternative forms

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  • Вы (Vy)alternative capitalisation in formal writing

Etymology

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From Old East Slavic вы (vy), from Proto-Slavic *vy, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Cognate with Sanskrit यूयम् (yūyam) and English you.

Use of Вы as a formal singular is attested in East Slavic literature from the 11th-16th century, under influence of Byzantine speech. It started becoming widespread in Russian society during the rule of Peter the Great, under French and German influence, and became ingrained by the 19th century.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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вы (vy)

  1. you (plural or formal singular)

Usage notes

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The personal pronoun вы is comparable to French vous, German Sie, Italian Voi, Spanish usted, Portuguese vós, and is used not only in the plural sense, but also as the formal singular. The formal вы is appropriate with strangers, business contacts, neighbors, and friends. (The informal ты (ty) should only be used with family and friends. Even then, a speaker may suddenly switch to вы in order to broach an especially serious topic, or to indicate displeasure or anger.) For more information, see Appendix:Russian pronouns

Declension

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