you

[ yoo; unstressed yoo, yuh ]

pronoun

possessive: your or yoursplural: youobjective: you

1. the pronoun of the second person singular or plural, used of the person or persons being addressed, in the nominative or objective case:

   You are the highest bidder. It is you who are to blame. We can't help you. This package came for you. Did she give you the book?

2. one; anyone; people in general:

   a tiny animal you can't even see.

3. (used in apposition with the subject of a sentence, sometimes repeated for emphasis following the subject):

   You children pay attention. You rascal, you!

4. Informal. (used in place of the pronoun your before a gerund):

   There's no sense in you getting upset.

5. Archaic.
   1. yourself; yourselves:

      Get you home. Make you ready.

   2. a plural form of the pronoun ye ¹.

noun

, plural yous.

1. something or someone closely identified with or resembling the person addressed:

   Don't buy the bright red shirt—it just isn't you. It was like seeing another you.

2. the nature or character of the person addressed:

   Try to discover the hidden you.

you

/ juː; jʊ /

pronoun

1. refers to the person addressed or to more than one person including the person or persons addressed but not including the speaker

   the culprit is among you

   you know better

2. Alsoone refers to an unspecified person or people in general

   you can't tell the boys from the girls

3. a dialect word for yourself or yourselves See yourself

   you should get you a wife now

noun

1. informal.
   the personality of the person being addressed or something that expresses it

   that hat isn't really you

2. you know what or you know who
   a thing or person that the speaker cannot or does not want to specify

Usage Note

In American English the pronoun you has been supplemented by additional forms to make clear the distinction between singular and plural. You-all is a widespread spoken form in the South Midland and Southern United States. A closely related monosyllabic form is written y'all and is used both in and outside of the South Midland and Southern United States, evoking a familiar and informal tone rather than indicating a regional identity. The possessive forms for these are often you-all's and y'all's, respectively, rather than your. You-uns (from you + ones ) is a South Midland form most often found in nonstandard speech; it is being replaced by you-all or y'all. Youse ( you + the plural -s ending of nouns), probably of Irish-American origin, is most common in the North, especially in urban centers like Boston, New York, and Chicago. It is rare in educated speech. You guys is a common informal expression used for plural you. It does not have a strong regional or dialectal association, but its usage is in flux among some populations of speakers. People who adopted plural you guys in the 1980s and 90s may use it as a gender-neutral plural, referring to any group without regard to sex or even a group of women only. Younger speakers and politically progressive speakers are more likely to perceive you guys as gendered and problematically noninclusive of trans and nonbinary people, and as such tend to avoid its use. me.

Usage

See me 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of you¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English ēow (dative, accusative of gē ye ¹ ); cognate with Old Frisian ju, Old Saxon iu, Dutch u, Old High German iu, eu

Word History and Origins

Origin of you¹

Old English ēow, dative and accusative of gē ye ¹; related to Old Saxon eu, Old High German iu, Gothic izwis

Idioms and Phrases

• all right for you
• as you please
• before you can say Jack Robinson
• before you know it
• between you and me
• bite the hand that feeds you
• do you read me
• for shame (on you)
• fuck you
• good for (you)
• how does that grab you
• how do you do
• if you can't beat them, join them
• I'll be seeing you
• I told you so
• look before you leap
• my heart bleeds for you
• no matter how you slice it
• not if you paid me
• now you're talking
• pay as you go
• practice what you preach
• quit while you're ahead
• same to you
• says who (you)
• screw you
• that's ___ for you
• what do you know
• what do you take me for
• what have you
• what of it (what's it to you)
• what's eating you

Example Sentences

“The kind of outcome where you have a military that is used as the tool of a despot — I don’t think we’re particularly close to that,” said Friedman, of Defense Priorities.

From Los Angeles Times

“I think you’ll be shocked by the first 100 days.”

From Los Angeles Times

So if the midterm elections are an improvement over the most recent one, you can return to America after the next two years.

From Salon

You can cruise around the world for the next four years, if your bank account can handle it.

From Salon

Lest you require a reminder, most modern scientific experiments are constructed using the scientific method.

From Slate

Related Words

• he
• I
• it
• she
• sie
• they
• ve
• xe
• ze
• zie