T–V Distinction In The World's Languages

The T–V distinction (from the Latin pronouns and ) is a contrast, within one language, between various forms of addressing one's conversation partner or partners. This may be specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, age or insult toward the addressee. The T–V distinction occurs in a number of world's languages.

Germanic

Afrikaans

Modern Afrikaans rarely makes the distinction between the informal second-person singular / and the more formal ( when addressing God), with ''jy'' supplanting ''u'' in most cases. The distinction is sometimes upheld in a formal setting, such as in politics, business or polite conversation. The second-person plural is used in all social contexts.

Dutch

Old Dutch did not appear to have a T–V distinction. was used as the second-person singular, and as the second-person plural. In early Middle Dutch, influenced by Old French usage, the original plural pronoun (or in the north) came to be used as a respectful singular pronoun, creating a T–V distinction. However, the formal started to be used in more and more situations. By the 17th century, had largely fallen out of use, although it lingered on in some of the more peripheral areas. At this point, the original T–V distinction had been lost, and the original V-pronoun / was used universally for both singular and plural regardless of the type of address. This resembled the state of English today, which has also (outside of dialectal, literary or religious use) lost its original T-pronoun ''thou''.

Around this time, a new formal pronoun started to come into use. This was also the object form of the subject pronoun /, and how it came to be used as a subject pronoun is not exactly clear. It is usually related to a form of address in writing of the time: letters were often addressed formally to , standing for ("Your Highness"), which is thought to have been shortened to eventually. It can be compared to the Spanish , which is a similar contraction of a phrase of indirect address. As in Spanish, the Dutch was originally conjugated as the third person in verbs, although most verbs had identical second- and third-person singular forms, so that this difference was not apparent for the most part. It remains today in the use of ("you (formal) have", like "he has"), compared to ("you (informal) have"). However, is now also common.

Around the same time, it became more common to clarify when multiple people were being spoken to, by adding , ("people"), or a shortened variety, to the end of the pronoun. Thus, when speaking to multiple people, one would use or . This combination was contracted and fused over time, eventually resulting in , the informal plural pronoun that is used today. It can be compared, in its origin, to the English ''y'all'' or Spanish .

Modern northern Dutch, and usually standard Dutch as well, has two forms of second person pronouns, namely and . is the formal pronoun, whereas is used as the informal personal pronoun to address a single person. In the plural, is also used, alongside the informal . In the south, only one pronoun, , is generally used in all three roles: both singular and plural, formal and informal. ''U'' is sometimes also used in formal situations, but the southern does not have a distinct informal connotation like the northern/standard , and can be used to address anyone without offence. Religious Dutch speakers in all areas address God using either or ; is never used. For speakers of the north, this is usually the only place where is encountered, giving it a formal and archaic tone, even though it is neutral in the southern areas where it is still used.

The pronoun (unstressed variant of ) can also be used impersonally, corresponding to the English generic you. The more formal Dutch term corresponding to English generic you or one is .

In Dutch the formal personal pronoun is used for older people or for people with a higher or equal status, unless the addressed makes it clear they want to be spoken to with the informal pronoun. Unlike for example in German, there is no defined line (in the case of German, roughly when someone passes the age of 16) in which everyone, apart from family, is addressed with the formal pronoun. Addressing parents by has become very rare; is often even used to address grandparents. There is also a tendency towards more use of the informal pronoun. Some companies such as IKEA consciously address their customers with the informal . However, can still be considered more or less obligatory in situations where, for example, a pupil addresses their teacher, people testify in court or communication between a doctor and their patient.

English

Contemporary English generally uses only the form "you", regardless of level of familiarity.

Old English used in the second-person singular for both formal and informal contexts. Following the Norman Conquest, the Middle English that emerged continued to use ' at first, but by the 13th century, Norman French influence had led to the use of the second-person plural or in formal contexts.

In Early Modern English superiors and strangers were therefore respectfully addressed as ''ye'' in the nominativeAs grammatical case largely disappeared during the transition from Middle to Early Modern English, ''ye'' was often replaced with ''you'' from the 15th century on. and ''you'' in the objective; ''thou'' and ''thee'' were used for familiars and subordinates. The more widespread and observed this division became, the more pejorative it became to strangers to be called by the familiar form of address. By the 17th century, such a use among the nobility was strongly and deliberately contemptuous, as in the declamation of the prosecutor at Sir Walter Raleigh's 1603 trial "I thou thee, thou traitor!" Accordingly, the use of ''thou'' began to decline and it was effectively extinct in the everyday speech of most English dialects by the early 18th century, supplanted by the polite ''you'', even when addressing children and animals, something also seen in Dutch and Latin America (most of Brazil and parts of Costa Rica and Colombia). Meanwhile, as part of English's continuing development away from its synthetic origins since the influx of French vocabulary following the Norman invasion, ''you'' had been replacing ''ye'' since the 15th century. Standard English was left with a single second-person pronoun for all cases, numbers and contexts and largely incapable of maintaining a T–V distinction.
Notwithstanding all of this, the translators of the King James Version of the Bible chose to employ the older forms in their work (1604–1611) in order to convey the grammatical distinctions made by their Hebrew, Greek and Latin sources. Its subsequent popularity and the religious rationale of many who continued to employ ''thou'' has preserved its use in English, but made it seem pious and ironically ''more'' formal and respectful than the everyday ''you''.

In the United States, some Protestant sects, such as the Quakers and Mormons insisted on addressing everyone as ''thou'', because they considered every person to be a friend and an equal. This persisted until the 19th or early 20th century.

Frisian (West)

In West Frisian, the formal singular nominative (pronounced ''yo'') is very close to the English ''you'' and the Middle and Early Modern English . There is no such distinction in the plural; the plural second person pronoun is always . , a Dutch dialect with strong Frisian influence, parallels this distinction (, , ).

West Frisian is used slightly more often than Dutch . Native speakers of Dutch are sometimes warned against addressing newly acquainted people with too soon.

German

and

In German, the formal address is the same as the third person plural pronoun . Verbs used with this form of address are also identical to third person plural forms. The polite form and its inflected forms are always capitalized in writing, to avoid any ambiguity.

The corresponding informal German address is or . The verbs and mean respectively "to address using " and "to address using " and the phrases or mean, "to be on terms". The use of often coincides with the use of the title plus surname,About.co
Sie & Du
usage of which is more widespread in German-speaking areas than Anglophone areas. In general terms, is used to children, animals and God, and between adults (or between adults and children) who are good friends of or related to each other. is used in other situations, such as in a business situation or where there is no existing relationship. In Internet chats and forums, Germans rarely use , although there are exceptions. Except in the case of adults addressing children, where it is common for the child to address the adult as , but be addressed as in return, it is not common in German for one party to address the other as , but be addressed as in return. In almost all cases it can be considered as impolite to use the "wrong" pronoun, that is a pronoun that is not expected by the other party. However, on the other hand, using an unexpected can also be a very welcome sign of affection, and using an unexpected can, in the young, be a very welcome sign of appreciation of the addressed one's maturity.

High school students in Germany are often called plus given name () by their teachers when they enter the —the last 2 or 3 years of high school—around the age of 16.

Children and teenagers are expected to use when addressing all adults except for family members and family friends whom they have known since early childhood. Street and similar social workers, sports clubs trainers will sometimes tell children and teens to address them with . In shops, bars, and other establishments, if they target a younger audience, it is becoming increasingly common for customers and staff to address each other as , to the degree that it is sometimes considered awkward if a waitress and a customer who are both in their twenties call each other .

The use of or between two strangers may also be determined by the setting in which they meet (casual/formal), as well as clothing (casual/formal), gender (same/opposite), and personal preference. For example, it is customary to use in traditional small pubs and taverns in certain regions (including the Rhineland). This applies also to older people, whom one would otherwise address as . Two people who addressed each other as in a pub may go back to when they meet in the street if their acquaintance was only very superficial. During the famous Rhenish carnival, it is customary for most revelers to address each other as . Only if the age difference is more than one generation, the younger person might still use . Another setting in which is often used between adults is sporting events.

Being has also become increasingly common in workplace environments (depending on the line of business and corporate culture to varying degrees), mostly regardless of age. In such environments, the basis may also be observed as a (sometimes necessary) mark of good social integration within a working group. As a rule of thumb, one might expect to see team colleagues on the workplace level in many industries on a customary basis with each other, though not always with the group manager and more rarely with higher-ranking managers. As entrants to a team are more closely integrated, this is often marked by making an informal affirmation to that basis or by formally offering it, as a matter of style and habituality. Both the tempo and extent of using the basis depends much on the culture (and sometimes the climate) of the business, and in some places even more so on that of the particular workgroup itself. Business cultures that pride themselves on a "flat hierarchy" are more likely to adopt or accent a general professional parlance of and given name while inside corporations tending to emphasize professional formality, a may be expected to be used always except between very close colleagues or inside closed groups (sometimes including managers meeting on the same level with the exclusion of any subordinates), and strictly always in the presence of a superior. The superior, on the other hand, has the right to address the other person informally or formally, which is a personal preference.

Customarily, the switch from to is initially proposed by the elder of the two people, the person with socially higher standing or by the lady to the gentleman. Alternatively, one person may use while they ask the other person if it is acceptable to be addressed informally, and then act accordingly. One way to propose the use of rather than is by stating one's first name (as in: ). One accepts the proposal by introducing one's own first name. Should a person later forget that they have adopted , it is polite to remind them by saying, (We moved on to terms). Sometimes switching back to is used as a method of distancing oneself from the addressee; the connotation is slightly ironic courtesy.

The inappropriate and uninvited use of towards someone who would otherwise reasonably expect to be addressed as is considered to be condescending and disrespectful, although insistence on in an environment where is largely accepted (flat hierarchies) can be interpreted as being equally disrespectful. The degree of offense that might be taken will depend on how obvious the etiquette violation was (an example of an obvious violation would be a teenager in the street addressing an elderly stranger on the street with , addressing a senior manager with as a result of a misjudged professional relationship would probably be taken with less offense), and will also depend on the upbringing of the person in question—progressive vs. conservative outlooks and age are examples of factors which can play a role in how individuals prefer to be addressed and choose to address others.

It has become the policy of some businesses for their employees to address customers with , often to set a progressive, "modern" tone, occasionally for other cultural reasons. IKEA, for instance, does this to reflect the widespread use of the form in Sweden (see ).

In Germany, an old custom (called , drinking brotherhood) involves two friends formally sharing a bottle of wine or drinking a glass of beer together to celebrate their agreement to call one another rather than . This custom has also been adopted among the Swiss-French of the Jura, in Poland and Russia (called by its German name, spelled and respectively), though the custom in Poland is now slowly disappearing. It was formerly found also in Sweden.

Although the use of generally coincides with the use of title plus surname, especially in northern and eastern Germany, there is an intermediate address combining with the first name (), whereas in the Berlin region, sometimes is combined with the surname (). The former usage also occurs when addressing teenagers, household staff, or guests of TV or radio programs, while the latter style is usually considered inferior and mainly occurs in working class environments, on schoolyards and in barracks. It may be associated with professional contexts, when colleagues have known one another for a long time, but, e.g. due to differences of status, do not want to switch to the usual style; or in situations where strangers (e.g. customers) are present for whom it would not be appropriate to learn the first name of the addressee.

When speaking to more than one person in formal situations where one would use to each one of them separately, Standard German uses . However, in this situation can often be heard instead, especially in the South of Germany and in Swiss German dialects, and is standard usage for pastors when preaching. If the standard here is followed, then the usage varies when addressing a group containing both and persons: Some speakers use the informal plural , others prefer the formal , and many, concerned that both pronouns might cause offence, prefer to use circumlocutions that avoid either pronoun, for example by expressing an imperative in infinitive form (), by applying the passive voice (), or using the indefinite pronoun ().

Historical predecessors: and /

Formerly, the 2nd person plural ("ye") was used to address social superiors, unless more informal relations had been established. The use of as the polite form, has still survived in Bernese German and other Alemannic dialects, as this is the case with in the French language. in this case has to be capitalized. However, itself shows a degree of informality, and would for example be used in addressing one's father. For the formal address, the third person would be used; and this in the singular with , (capitalized) to a social inferior, as a farmer addressing a stableboy, or in the plural to a social superior. It is from the latter occurrences that modern takes its origin; is the 3rd person plural pronoun. However, itself is relatively young, and it was rather the formal addresses, often itself singular forms, that took the plural. Even as late as in Dürrenmatt's "The Visit" (written in 1956), an address ("You do know that, Mr Mayor", modern German would just say ) can be found; ''Herr Bürgermeister'' is the formal address and itself a singular term, but is plural. However, if the formal address itself contains a personal pronoun as in ("His Majesty") etc., this one would be put to the 2nd person plural: (not: ) ("What does ut pluralYour Majesty condescend to order?")

Thus, all these go by a similar grammar rule pertaining to the verb used with these addresses as modern . The dated capitalized address demands the same verb form as the modern second person plural pronoun , the dated / demands the same verb form as the modern third person singular and , and the dated 3rd person plural address without demands, just as itself, the same verb form as the 3rd person plural pronoun ("they").

The forms are still found today in some dialects as a respectful way of addressing elders and are still very often found in works of art and literature (such as books and movies) depicting events at least several centuries in the past, or in a "past-like" fantasy setting, even if modern German is otherwise used in these works; indeed, using the modern in such a setting would be considered an out-of-place anachronism. and the 3rd person plural without are somewhat analogous to the English majestic plural.

The / form is not widely known or understood by the average person any more, whereas is often still used in dubbed films, especially in medieval/fantasy contexts such as ''The Lord of the Rings'', e.g. "" ("you have entered the Realm of the Lady of the Wood, you can not turn back"). In this context, a historical level is used where the second person plural indicates some nobility of or respect for the addressee, such that from being used to address a single person, the viewer could mostly, without looking, conclude that the person was of elevated rank such as a king or nobleman, or at least being treated with expressed regard. would not normally be used to address a peasant (unless he is a prince in disguise or a future prince and the person addressing him has gathered some knowledge or presumption thereof).

Scandinavian languages

Danish

In Danish, the informal second-person singular is and the formal form of address uses the third-person plural , capitalized to distinguish it from its other use. The second-person plural and the third-person singular ("he") or ("she") were sometimes used until the early 19th century in standard Danish and awhile longer in the countryside. The German-inspired form entered Danish in the 18th century, too late to enter liturgical use. In church, as in rural or dialect-speaking areas, has always been the universal form, especially in Jutland.

As in other Scandinavian languages, even among the prestige dialects, the formal pronoun is waning in use—in the case of Danish, since ("The Youth Revolts") during and after the protests of 1968. As a general rule, the informal is accepted everywhere today, except when addressing royalty or during military service. In other contexts, it has come to seem excessively formal and old-fashioned to most Danes. Even at job interviews and among parliamentarians, has become standard.

In written Danish, remains current in legal, legislative, and formal business documents, as well as in some translations from other languages. This is sometimes audience-dependent, as in the Danish government's general use of except in healthcare information directed towards the elderly, where is still used. Other times, it is maintained as an affectation, as by the staff of some formal restaurants, the newspaper, TV 2 announcers, and the avowedly conservative Maersk corporation. Attempts by other corporations to avoid sounding either stuffy or too informal by employing circumlocutions—using passive phrasing or using the pronoun ("one")—have generally proved awkward and been ill-received, and (with the notable exception of the national railway DSB) most have opted for the more personable form.

Icelandic

Modern Icelandic is the Scandinavian dialect closest to Old Norse, which made a distinction between the plural and the dual . This distinction continued in written Icelandic the early 1920 when the plural was also used on formal occasions. The formal usage of seems to have pushed the dual to take over the plural so modern Icelandic normally uses as a plural. However, in formal documents such as by the president is still used as plural, and the usage of as plural and as dual is still retained in the Icelandic translation of the Christian scriptures. There are still a number of fixed expressions—particularly religious adages such as "seek and ye shall find" ()—and the formal pronoun is sometimes used in translations from a language that adheres to a T–V distinction, but otherwise it appears only when one wants to be excessively formal either from the gravity of the occasion (as in court proceedings and legal correspondence) or out of contempt (in order to ridicule another person's self-importance), and is used in all other cases.

Norwegian

In Norwegian, the polite form / () and / () has more or less disappeared in both spoken and written language. Norwegians now exclusively use , and the polite form does not have a strong cultural pedigree in the country. Until recently, would sometimes be found in written works, business letters, plays and translations where an impression of formality must be retained. The popular belief that is reserved for the king is incorrect, since according to royal etiquette, the King (and other members of the royal family) will be addressed as ()/ () (Your majesty) or in third person singular as (His majesty), / (Her majesty), (the King), (the Queen) and similar.

Norwegians generally refer to one another by first name only, unless the person is better known by full or last name only. This also contributes to the weakening of these pronouns and a general pattern of declining use of polite speech. For example, a student might address their professor by their first name, but would refer to a leading politician by their last name. Norwegian politicians and celebrities are sometimes referred to by their first names, especially in newspaper headlines, while the text of the article most likely would use the person's last name. Nicknames are not very common.

The distinction between and exists primarily for written Norwegian (most Norwegians speak dialects that differ from the standard written forms), and the T–V rules are the same for both forms—except that uses the third person plural to indicate politeness (as in German), while uses the second person plural (as in French). In both forms, when these pronouns are used to indicate politeness, they are always capitalised (to show deference, and separate them from when they indicate, respectively, the third and second person plural).

Swedish

In Swedish, there has in the last two centuries been a marked difference between usage in Finland Swedish and in Sweden.

In the Swedish of Sweden, the polite survived from earlier epochs, but had come to be considered somewhat careless, bullying or rude; instead, an intricate system had evolved in order to prudently step around pronouns almost completely. Parts of this system began to erode around the Second World War or so, but the essentials held up into the 1960s.

As the 20th century progressed, Swedish-speakers increasingly came to find this circumlocutive system of addressing, with its innumerable ambiguities and opportunities for unintentional offence, as a nuisance. In the 1960s, the so-called ('thou-reform') was carried out. First, authorities and influential circles tried rehabilitating the in a so-called " reform"—but most people could not bring themselves to feel civil using that. Then, almost overnight in what became known as the " reform", the system broke down, and (noted as informal above) became the accepted way of addressing anyone except for royalty.

Addressing royalty went somewhat more slowly from a universal ('Your Majesty'), etc., to that address only on formal occasions, otherwise replaced by third-person (singular if the addressee is single) with title ( 'the King', etc.).

These rules still apply, with marginal exceptions. The vast majority of Swedes, including younger people in most or all situations, stick to . In order to "alleviate the intrusion" in writing, e.g. in letters or in advertisement, the can be capitalized. That usage was most widespread in the early days of universal ''du''-address; it has become slightly more common again simultaneously with the partial revival.

Finland Swedish has undergone a similar development to mainland Swedish since the 1960s, but more slowly and slightly less radically. In Finland one may have to reckon with influence from the Finnish language, still slightly more conservative. In Finland Swedish, the second-person plural form (noted as formal above) was indeed the traditional respectful address to a single person up to the 1970s or so.

Swedish also has verbs for the addresses: 'to say ', and 'to say '.

Scots

In Modern Scots the second person singular nominative (, Southern Scots , Shetland dialect ) survived in colloquial speech until the mid 19th century in most of lowland Scotland. It has since been replaced by / in most areas except in Insular Scots where (, Shetland dialect ) is also used, in North Northern Scots and in some Southern Scots varieties. is used as the familiar form by parents speaking to children, elders to youngsters, or between friends or equals. The second person formal singular or is used when speaking to a superior or when a youngster addresses an elder. The older second person singular possessive (), and (, Shetland dialect along with ) still survive to some extent where remains in use.

Yiddish

Yiddish makes use of the second person plural form as the polite form for both singular and plural. In the second person plural form (), there is therefore no distinction between formal and informal forms. There is a dialectal pronoun () strictly for informal second-person plural form, but this pronoun is rarely used today and is only found in some dialects of Poland and neighboring regions.

Given that medieval German dialects were the main influence on the development of the Yiddish language, this form may be recognized with older polite forms of the German language.

Romance languages

Catalan

Catalan uses the singular pronouns (informal) and (formal), while (informal) and (formal) are used for two or more addressees. The form , used instead of to address someone respectfully, follows the same concordance rules as the French (verbs in second person plural, adjectives in singular), and follows the same concordance rules as the Spanish (verbs in third person). originated from as a calque from Spanish, and replaced the original Catalan form .

In some dialects, is no longer used. Other dialects have a three-way distinction / / , where is used as a respectful form for elders and respected friends, and for foreigners and people whom one does not know well. is more distant than .

The Administration uses to address people.

French

In most French-speaking regions (with the exception of Canada, see North American French below), a rigid T–V distinction is upheld. With regard to the second person singular, is used informally, whereas is used to convey formality. The second person plural is always . The formal is expected when encountering any unknown adult under normal circumstances. In general, the switch from to is "negotiated" on a case-by-case basis; it can happen nearly unconsciously, or can be explicitly negotiated. For instance, some couples have been known to call each other for some time while dating, and gradually switch to calling each other . The verb means "address someone with -forms, speak informally"; by contrast means "address someone with forms". Rigidly sticking to ''vous'' can become equally awkward in a long-standing relationship.

In certain circumstances, however, is used more broadly. For example, new acquaintances who are conscious of having something socially significant in common (e.g., student status, or the same "rank" in some hierarchy) often use ''tu'' more or less immediately. In some cases, there may be an explicitly defined practice in a particular company, political party, as to the use of and . Also, using the in conjunction with someone's given name is rather current in France as a less formal way of addressing someone, e.g. at work, among members of an association etc. Children and adolescents generally use to speak with someone of their own age, whether known or not. can also be used to show disrespect to a stranger, such as when surprising a thief or cursing other drivers on the road.

may be used to distance oneself from a person with whom one does not want to interact. Additionally, two people who use in their private interactions may consciously switch back to in public in order to act appropriately in a formal or professional environment, to play the part in an artificially constructed situation (such as between co-hosts of a television show), or simply to conceal the nature of their relationship from others.

In families, was traditionally used to address older family members. Children were taught to use to address their parents, and was used until about 1950 between spouses of the higher classes. Former president Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette are a prominent example of the continuation of this usage.

When praying, is nowadays often used in addressing the deity, though was used in Catholic prayers until the Second Vatican Council, and is still used to address the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Louisiana, however, is always used to convey a sense of respect and reverence when praying.

In Walloon, the use of which tends, in any case, to be restricted mostly to "familiar" contexts, (equivalent to ) is the general usage and is considered informal and friendly. (equivalent to ), on the other hand, is considered vulgar, and its use can be taken as an expression of an aggressive attitude towards the person addressed. This influence from Walloon affects the usage of and in the French spoken in Belgium, though more so among people accustomed to using Walloon as their everyday language (a tiny minority, mostly in the countryside). The influence of Standard French, particularly as exercised through the mass media, is eroding this particularity among younger French-speakers.

In the , the use of honorific styles or their abbreviation (literally ''she'', irrespective of the gender of the addressee, as the honorifics were feminine nouns) together with the 3rd person singular was also common. See below for Italian which has kept this style.

African French

In , local languages (such as Baoulé, Dioula, etc.) do not make a distinction between informal or formal pronouns, which reflects on the local usage of French. It is thus uncommon to call an individual . A waiter, shop-keeper or taxi driver can very well call a customer , just like an employee towards a superior. For example, an accountant could call her direct branch manager , but will still use to address the company's CEO.

Relationships between men and women are typically less formal than between people of the same gender (a female supermarket worker will more easily say towards a male customer than her male colleague).

Even in formal situations (business, politics), the superiors can often be called in a familiar way by subordinates who will use affectionate terms of address such as , , , , for males, , , , for females, instead of the standard and . Superiors reciprocate with terms of address such as , , , . All those terms of address typically exclude the use of "vous".

The use is also conditioned to the "level" of French being spoken: using a Standard French code and/or accent (what is called in Ivorian French) will prompt addresses of , whereas code switching to Ivorian French will typically invite a concomitant switch to .

Informed local people will still, most of the time, make a conscious effort to use and / when addressing Westerners in formal situations (unless, again, that Westerner talks Ivorian French rather than Standard French). Other groups of foreigners such as other Africans, Asians or Middle-Eastern people are less likely to enjoy that "privilege".

The use of , just like the use of and , is thus restricted to very formal situations where Standard French is being used, mostly for the higher class between themselves: managers at a meeting with the CEO, representatives of different political parties, upper-class people who don't know each other at a social gathering. A switching to can still happen as soon as the formal event is over (such as managers getting out of the meeting room) or just after having been introduced to each other—usually simultaneous to a switch from Standard French to Ivorian French.

North American French

North American dialects of French, including Quebec, Acadian and Louisiana French, permit and expect a far broader usage of the familiar than in European French. There are still circumstances in which it is necessary to say : in a formal interview (notably for a job) or when addressing people of very high rank (such as judges or prime ministers), senior citizens, between professors and students in universities, towards customers or new acquaintances in a formal setting. As acquaintances become familiar with one another, they may find to be unnecessarily formal and may agree to return to the with which they are generally more comfortable.

For a number of Francophones in Canada, sounds stilted or snobbish, and archaic. is by no means restricted to intimates or social inferiors. There is however an important minority of people who prefer to be addressed as . At Radio-Canada (the public broadcaster, often considered as establishing the normative objectives of standard French in Canada), the use of is widespread, even among colleagues.

Galician

Galician uses the personal pronouns ti (in Eastern and part of Central Galician, tu) and vós as the singular informal second person and plural informal second person respectively. Formality is expressed by the use of vostede, instead of ti, with the verb conjugated in singular third person form. The plural form is vostedes.

In Galicia, it's common to see instructions and written information, like in museums and bus stops, using the formal pronoun vostede to address the reader. However, it's more likely that a worker and costumer use ti/tu when communicating, or to switch to Spanish with informal pronouns (see Spanish below), than using the formal pronoun vostede.

Italian

In Standard Italian the informal second-person singular pronoun is and the formal second-person singular pronoun is (inf. "she", lit. "her"), always used with the third-person singular conjugation of the verb. The pronouns may be freely omitted. Despite the original meaning of , modern Italian typically concords with the gender of the addressee when is the sentence subject; using feminine adjectives for a male addressee is not insulting. When is an object, using feminine adjectives is normal (, i.e. "I saw you (m.)"), whereas gender concord is considered non-standard (, i.e. "I saw you (m.)).

is normally used in formal settings or with strangers, although it implies a sense of distance (even coldness) similar to the French use of . Presently Italian adults prefer to employ towards strangers until around 30 years old. It is used reciprocally between adults; the usage may not be reciprocal when young people address older strangers or otherwise respected people. Students are addressed with by their teachers until the end of high school with few exceptions and usually with in universities. Students might use with their teachers in elementary school, but switch to from middle school. is the common form of address on the Internet and within some professions such as journalism and law as a recognition of comradeship. In law school, however the is only used in informal settings; in the courtroom it is used only to small children, if ever any happens to appear there. The second-person plural pronoun is . Its polite counterpart is ("They"), but it is now little used outside of very formal situations.

is the traditional polite form of address in Tuscan dialects: Dante employs it in his 14th-century ''Divine Comedy'' when showing particular respect. began to replace it during the Renaissance and then, under Spanish influence, it became common to contract obsequious honorifics such as "Your Lordship", "Eminence", and "Majesty", all of which are feminine third-person singular nouns in Italian (, , ). Over the next four centuries, all three pronouns—, , —were employed together to express degrees of formality and status, as displayed in Manzoni's 19th-century '' The Betrothed''. In Lampedusa's The Leopard, when the Prince proposes on his nephew's behalf to the daughter of the rich but plebeian mayor, the latter suddenly switches from using the style of ''Your Excellency'' and the form ''Lei'' to the style of ''Prince'' and the form ''Voi'': still respectful, but with much shorter social distance. continues to be used by some speakers, particularly of Southern dialects, as an alternative to in polite address, but its use is increasingly uncommon. The use of was imposed by the Fascists from 1938 to 1944. still appears in comics, and in instruction books and advertisements where would sound too distant, but in the latter case most of the time it is used directly as a plural and not as a polite singular. (An example of all three forms of address in action is the Italian ''The Lord of the Rings'' translation: a character such as Aragorn is usually addressed as , but neither nor seemed appropriate for how Samwise addresses his higher-class friend and employer Frodo; Sam calls Frodo , in consequence.)

Although seldom encountered, the third person or ("Your Lord-" or "Ladyship") is sometimes seen in formal correspondence and invitations, as a stronger form of its descendant .

Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese

For the most part, in Brazilian Portuguese, and (singular and plural "you", respectively) are used as the V form in more relaxed situations (for example, between two strangers with the same age in the streets), while and ("Mr"/"Sir" and "Mrs"/"Madam", plurals and ) are used in formal speech, as well as towards elders. Although now seen as archaic, is used when speaking ironically, very formally or when one is demonstrating respect to a superior and it is sometimes replaced by ("Lady"). Informal terms of respect to superiors, elders or strangers are (abbreviation of ) and (feminine of i.e. ). / and ("Lad"/"Young man" and "Lady") are used by seniors when addressing non-intimate youths and also as an equalizing form among strange youths. ("youngster") is used in the same manner by elders when addressing strange youths of both genders.

On premises where the atmosphere requires extreme formality like the Senate or different courts, the protocolar forms to address dignitaries ("Your Excellence") and ("Your Lordship/Ladyship") can still be heard. In a direct address to a judge or the president, must follow the vocatives ("Your Honour", literally "full of merit") and ("Mr/Mrs" President). When addressing an ecclesiastical dignitary the form ("Your Reverence") is used. Although is regarded as protocolar, it is an equalizing form.

In some parts of the country and in television speech (that used by reporters and actors, for instance) is used even between intimate speakers. In other parts of the geographic extension of the language e.g. most of Southern and Northeastern Brazil, some sociolects of coastal São Paulo, mainly in Greater Santos, colloquial sociolect, mainly among the less educated and some all-class youths of Greater Rio de Janeiro, and in Uruguay, ''tu'' (singular "you" or simply "thou") is used informally, but the plural form is always . For the overwhelming majority of people, the pronoun is commonly used with the verb conjugated as (third-person singular) rather than in the traditional conjugation (second-person singular). is somewhat familiar, even intimate, and should never be addressed to superiors, or strange elders, while is much more neutral, although equalizing.

The dialect that includes , capital city of Santa Catarina, as well as its shore and inner regions in the proximity like Blumenau, is an exception, as the use of is widespread, even addressing formally to an authority or to a superior. It is one of the few dialects in Brazil in which second-person singular agreement is used (along with the relatively conservative dialect of the state of ).

European Portuguese

In European Portuguese (as well as in Africa, Timor-Leste and Macau), (singular "you") is commonly used as the familiar addressing pronoun, while is a general form of address; (plural both of and ) is used for both familiar and general. The forms and (plurals and ) are used for more formal situations (roughly equivalent to "Mr/Sir" and "Mrs/Madam".) Similarly to some Romance languages (e.g. Italian), , or / can be omitted because the verb ending provides the necessary information. The second person plural pronoun , from Latin , is archaic in most of the Portuguese-speaking world, but can be heard in liturgy, poetry and has a limited regional use.

Romanian

The Romanian word when used for the second-person singular formal takes plural verbs but singular adjectives, similar to French . It is used roughly in the same manner as in Continental French and shows no signs of disappearing. It is also used as a more formal . It originates from – your lordship. In the past it was used extreme rarely to nobles especially, but its sense extended to other people in the 20th century but not so common and when the communists arrived it took the actual form. As happens with all subject pronouns, is often omitted from sentences, its use being implied by verbs in the second person plural form.

The form (originating from – thy lordship) is less distant than and somewhat midway between and . The verb is conjugated, as for , in the second person singular form. Older people towards younger people and peers favor . Its use is gradually declining.

A more colloquial form of is , or . It is more familiar than and is used only in some regions of Romania. It is used only with immediate family members, and is spelled and pronounced the same in all cases, similar to . It is used with verbs in the second person singular, as is .

The plural form is a recent borrowing. Proto-Romanian and Aromanian, like Classical Latin, do not have the plural form.

Sicilian

Most dialects of the Sicilian language have utilised , , or to express formality. However, due to encroachment by the Italian language has become increasingly common particularly among younger speakers.

Spanish

In Peninsular, Mexican, and Peruvian Spanish, as in Italian, an original and usage similar to French disappeared in the Early Modern period. Today, is used for informal and familiar address while the respectful form is the third-person , which can be used respectfully to anyone. Scholars agree that evolved as a contraction of the Old Spanish ("your grace"), with as a transitional form. In some cases, the title is also employed when speaking to a respected older man, while is used for older women.

Among Spanish dialects, the situation is complicated by the fact that the Spanish Empire was created during the middle of this linguistic shift, and geographically remote regions did not participate fully in it. The region surrounding the Colombian capital of Bogotá (although not the city itself) preserves an alternate respectful form simplified from a different contraction of . In Rioplatense (Argentinian) Spanish, was preserved—but as a replacement for and not as a respectful form of address; in Chile, in Western Venezuela, parts of Colombia and in Central America, is used in spoken address and is used in print and to express moderate formality, that is, it has essentially switched its function to the former role of . In Costa Rica and part of Colombia, is used as the common pronoun, using it both in formal and informal situations.

In the second-person plural, modern Spanish speakers in most of Spain employ (masculine) and (feminine) informally and (as the third-person plural) to express respect. In western Andalucia, is used in both contexts, but its verbs are conjugated in the second-person plural. Throughout the Americas and the Canaries, is used in all contexts and in the third person.

In peninsular Spain, the use of usted/ustedes has been diminishing in recent decades and may disappear in the near future. It is seldom used by younger speakers, even when addressing an older person, or in situations that would be considered formal by people one generation their senior.

In Equatoguinean Spanish, tú and Usted are interchangeable.

Judeo-Spanish (Ladino)

Judeo-Spanish (Ladino), which diverged just as Old Spanish was evolving into modern Spanish, lacks the pronouns ''usted'' and ''ustedes''. In most dialects, it uses ''vos'' for the second-person formal singular, which takes second-person plural endings. ''Vozotros/vozotras'' is used for the second-person plural, whether formal or informal. In some dialects, however, it uses ''el'', ''eya'', and ''eyos'' instead of ''vos'' and ''vozotros/vozotras''.

Hellenic

Ancient and Hellenistic or Koine Greek

In Ancient Greek, () was the singular, and () the plural, with no distinction for honorific or familiar. Paul addresses King Agrippa II as (Acts 26:2).

Later, and (,"we") became too close in pronunciation, and a new plural or (/) was invented, the initial () being a euphonic prefix that was also extended to the singular (/).

Modern Greek

In Modern Greek, (, second person plural) with second person plural verb conjugation is used as the formal counterpart of (, second person singular) when talking to strangers and elders, although in everyday life it is common to speak to strangers of your age or younger using the singular pronoun. In addition, the informal second person singular is used even with older people you are acquainted with, depending on the level of mutual familiarity.

Since the formal () has become less common outside schools and workplaces, many people often do not know which form to use (because using a formal version might sound too snobbish even to an elder and using the informal version might sound inappropriate to some strangers) and thus prefer to replace verbs with nouns (avoiding the dilemma) until enough information on the counterpart's intentions is gathered in order to choose between formal or informal second person pronoun and verb conjugation. A good rule of thumb is that singular accompanies first names and plural accompanies surnames with title (Mr, Mrs, etc.). Exceptions are rare, for example younger schoolchildren may address their teacher in the plural, title and ''first name'', or an officer may address a soldier in the singular and surname. The sequence singular–title–surname is a faux pas that can often indicate lack of education, of good manners, or of both.

The modern social custom when using Greek in Greece is to ask the other person "may we speak in the singular?" in which the other person is expected to answer "yes" and afterwards the discussion continues using the informal (); it is unthinkable for the other person to answer "no" or show preference for plural forms, and for this reason one should not even ask this question to a person of high status, such as a professional. Therefore, asking this question can itself be considered a form of disrespect in some social situations. Likewise, not asking this question and simply using the singular without prior explicit or implicit agreement would also be considered disrespectful in various social contingencies. In other cases, even using the formal plural (without a question) could also be considered offensive. A person being inappropriately addressed in the singular will often indicate their displeasure by insisting on responding in the plural, in a display of irony that may or may not be evident to the other party. A similar social custom exists with the words ( Mr/Sir) and (Mrs/Madam), which can show both respect and a form of "mock respect" essentially communicating disapproval, often depending on the voice intonation and the social situation. Overall, the distinction between formal and informal forms of address and when to use each can be quite subtle and not easily discernible by a non-native speaker.

Cypriot Greek traditionally had no T–V distinction, with even persons of very high social status addressed in the singular, usually together with an honorific or title such as ("teacher", mainly for priests) or (literally "master", loosely "sir"). Even today, the singular form is used much more frequently in Cyprus compared to Greece, although this is changing under the influence of Standard Modern Greek. The plural form is now expected in a formal setting.

Celtic

Scottish Gaelic

In Scottish Gaelic, the informal form of the second-person singular is / (emphatic: /), used when addressing a person the speaker knows well, or when addressing a person younger or relatively the same age as the speaker. When addressing a superior, an elder, or a stranger, or in conducting business, the form (emphatic: ) is used. ( is also the second person plural). This distinction carries over into prepositional pronouns: for instance, and (at you), and (against you), and (before you), etc., and into possessive pronouns and (your).

Irish

In Irish, the use of as an address to one person has died out, and is preferred. Formerly, Roman Catholic priests were addressed with the plural form , especially in Ulster, due to the possibility that the priest may be carrying the Eucharist on his person—belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist would require the use of the plural.

Welsh, Cornish and Breton

Modern Welsh, Cornish and Breton all retain a T–V distinction to varying degrees.

In spoken Welsh, the plural pronoun is used when speaking to strangers, elders or superiors, while (or in some parts of the North) is used with friends, close family, animals and children. is also the form used when addressing God. Nonetheless, the use of and varies between families and regions, but those guidelines are generally observed., which also cites

is an alternative to found in very formal literary language. Alongside the usages explained above, those born before 1945 would, in their youth, use with a girl of about the same age. Similarly to Italian, the third person singular is used by some speakers in the former Dyfed region of west Wales; it appears, however, that the pronoun used—between either or (masculine, South), or (masculine, North) and (feminine)—depends on the gender of the listener.

A similar distinction exists between Cornish singular / and plural / . The singular form is used when talking to friends, family, animals and children, and the plural form is used to talk to a group of people, or when being especially polite to one person.

In Breton the second person plural is used as a polite form when addressing a single person and the singular is reserved for informal situations. However, in a large area of central Brittany the singular form has been entirely replaced by , as in English.

Balto-Slavic

Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian (mainly Eastern)

East Slavic Languages distinguish between the familiar () and the respectful (), the latter also being the plural of both forms. (Respectful () may be capitalised in formal written correspondence, while plural is not.) The distinction appeared relatively recently and began to gain currency among the educated classes in the 18th century through French influence.On the origin of Russian ''Vy''
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Generally, is used among friends and relatives, but the usage depends not only on the closeness of the relationship but also on age and the formality of the situation (e.g., work meeting vs. a party). Children always use to address each other and are addressed in this way by adults but are taught to address adults with . Younger adults typically also address older adults outside the family as regardless of intimacy, and may be addressed as in return. When talking to each other young people often start with the formal but may transition to very quickly in an informal situation. Among older people, is often reserved for closer acquaintances. Unless there is a substantial difference in age, the choice of the form is symmetric: if A uses to address B, then B also uses to address A. While people may transition quickly from to , such transition presumes mutual agreement. Use of without consent of the other person is likely to be viewed as poor conduct or even as an insult (or, in the case of opposite-sexed people, overly flirtatious), particularly if the other party maintains using .

Historically, the rules used to be more class-specific: as late as at the end of the 19th century, it was accepted in some circles (in aristocracy and especially gentry) that was to be used also between friends, between husband and wife, and when addressing one's parents (but not one's children), all of which situations today would strongly call for using . Meanwhile, up to this day, common people, especially those living in rural areas, hardly ever use the polite . Russian and Belarusian speakers online uphold the distinction and mainly use for strangers, although in the earlier days of internet it was more common and expected to use to address everyone.

The choice between and is closely related to, yet sometimes different from, the choice of the addressing format—that is, the selection from the first name, patronymics, last name, and the title to be used when addressing the person. Normally, is associated with the informal addressing by first name only (or, even more informally, by the patronymic only), whereas is associated with the more formal addressing format of using the first name together with patronymics (roughly analogous to "title followed by last name" in English) or the last name together with a title (the last name is almost never used together with either of the other two names to ''address'' someone, although such combinations are routinely used to ''introduce'' or ''mention'' someone). However, nowadays, can also be employed while addressing by first name only.

In Ukrainian, the present practice is essentially the same as in Russian, historically this was primarily in the Eastern, Russian-ruled part of Ukraine. Until about 1945, due to Polish influence, the practices in the former Galicia and Volyn regions, tended to more closely resemble the Polish practices, as described below. But since those areas became annexed to the Soviet Union, the East Ukrainian and Russian practices have become prevalent all over Ukraine, with the , , , etc. forms only being preserved in the émigré diaspora.

Serbo-Croatian

In all standard forms of Serbo-Croatian, i.e. Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Bosnian, the use of is limited to friends and family, and used among children. In any formal use, , the second-person plural, is used only; can be used among peers in a workplace but is rare in official documents.

With the polite , masculine plural (in participles and adjectives) is used regardless of the sex of the person addressed.

Bulgarian

Bulgarian distinguishes between familiar () and respectful (). is always singular and implies familiarity. , the plural of , also functions as the formal singular.

In addressing more than one person, the plural is always used. For example, " means "''You'' two leave, please!"). Here, although and both means ''you'', can not be used.

When addressing a single person, if the people talking are acquainted then singular is used, otherwise plural should be used. Sometimes people start a new acquaintance straightforwardly with singular , but generally this is considered offensive, rude, or simply impolite. Children are taught to always use between themselves, but for addressing more than one child or an unknown adult.

The grammatically correct spelling of the singular word is always with a capital letter, whether being the first word in a sentence or not. For example, the sentence "But ''you'' are wrong!", if spelled (in Bulgarian) (the word with capital ), it would convey that the speaker is addressing an individual person with a plural, because he/she wants to express a polite, official manner; if spelt (the second possible Bulgarian translation of "But ''you'' are wrong!"), it would then mean that someone is talking to several persons.

Generally, is used among friends and relatives. When talking to each other, young people often start with the formal but quickly transition to in an informal situation. Unless there is a substantial difference in social situation (e.g. a teacher and a student), the choice of the form is symmetric: if A. uses to address B., then B. also uses to address A. While people may transition quickly from to , such transition presumes mutual agreement. There is a recent trend not to use the formal at all, but this can lead to awkward situations.

Macedonian

Macedonian distinguishes between familiar () and respectful ()—which is also the plural of both forms, used to address a pair or group. (Respectful may be capitalized, while plural is not.) Generally, is used among friends and relatives, but the usage depends not only on the closeness of the relationship but also on age and the formality of the situation (e.g., work meeting vs. a party). Children always use to address each other and are addressed in this way by adults, but are taught to address adults with . Younger adults typically also address older adults outside the family as regardless of intimacy, and may be addressed as in return. When talking to each other young people often start with the formal , but may transit to very quickly in an informal situation. Among older people, is often reserved for closer acquaintances. Unless there is a substantial difference in age, the choice of the form is symmetric: if A uses to address B, then B also uses to address A. While people may transit quickly from to , such transition presumes mutual agreement. Use of without consent of the other person is likely to be viewed as poor conduct or even as an insult, particularly if the other party maintains using .

Polish

Polish uses as formal forms the words (meaning "mister" or "gentleman") and ("lady"), and in the plural ("gentlemen") and ("ladies") respectively, being used for mixed groups (originally a neutral noun, meaning roughly "lordship", but also, and even today, "state"). is used with the plural, like and . Because of their character as nouns (and not pronouns) these words are used with the third person: For example, the familiar ("You want to drink") becomes (literally "The gentleman wants to drink").

Further, and can be combined with the first name, the last name and with titles like "President", "Professor", "Doctor", "Editor" and others (, etc.; using these titles is considered necessary); using both (, ) is considered more polite or, in some context, even submissive. Addressing a present person with the last name is only usual in court or in other affairs, where government authority is involved, and generally considered impolite or condescending. When addressing someone, all these forms always require the vocative case, which is otherwise optional (for example ("Mr Kowalski!"), ("Mrs Joanna!"), ("Professor!")). For , etc. alone, + genitive is used instead of vocative: , , , and .

A unique practice among both Poles is addressing a lawyer as , meaning "Mr. Philanthropist", derived from the name of Gaius Maecenas, an ancient Roman patron of the arts.
The V-forms are capitalized only in actual letters (or e-mails), where the T-forms and are also capitalized.

Plural is also used as V-form in dialects, for example ("Mother, what are you eating?"). Following its Russian usage, the plural V-form was also promoted in the Polish language from 1945, becoming associated with Communist ideology and addressing of a person by a government or Party official.

Besides, other forms can be sometimes used like in third person when talking to older family members (, "May mother say"), to clergy (, "Yes, priest got it right") or to other people in less formal or semi-formal situations, e.g. polite quarrel or dispute (, "Also, may my dear friend please learn more and only then instruct others").

Slovene

In Slovenian, although informal address using the second person singular form (known as ) is officially limited to friends and family, talk among children, and addressing animals, it is increasingly used instead of its polite or formal counterpart using the second person plural form (known as ).

There is an additional nonstandard but widespread use of a singular participle combined with a plural auxiliary verb (known as ) that also reveals the gender of the person and is used in somewhat less formal situations:

* ('You did not see him': both the auxiliary verb and the participle are plural masculine.)
* ('You did not see him': the auxiliary verb is plural but the participle is singular masculine/feminine.)

The use of the third person plural form (known as in both direct address and indirect reference) as an ultra-polite form is now archaic or dialectal; it is associated with servant-master relationships in older literature, the child-parent relationship in certain conservative rural communities, and in general with relationships with people of highest respect (parents, clergy, royalty).

Similar to , but less common, was also , where third person was used instead of second in all numbers.

Gender can also change. In and forms, all words referring to the subject are in masculine forms, in this is only limited to pronouns. In , all words referring to the subject are in neuter forms.

Czech

In Czech, there are three levels of formality. The most formal is using the second person plural verb forms (V form) with the surname or title of the addressed person, usual between strangers or people in a professional relationship. The second common form is made by using the second person singular verb forms (T form) together with the given name of the other person, used between friends and in certain social groups (students etc.). The third form, which is rather less common, is using the V form in combination with the given name. It may be used by a teacher when addressing a student (especially at the secondary school level), by a boss addressing their secretary, or in other relationships where a certain degree of familiarity has developed, but has not superseded some level of mutually acknowledged respect or distance. This form of address is usually asymmetrical (the perceived social superior uses V form in combination with the first name, the perceived social inferior using V form and the surname or honorific), less often symmetrical. Using the singular verb forms together with the surname or title is considered very rude. Where a stranger introduces themself with title (like , ), it is considered more polite to address them using the V form in combination with their title (always preceded by the honorific /, i.e. Mr/Ms), rather than their surname. However, it is considered poor manners to address somebody with their title in combination with the T form.

Traditionally, use of the informal form was limited for relatives, very close friends, and for children. During the second half of the 20th century, use of the informal form grew significantly among coworkers, youth and members of organisations and groups. The formal form is always used in official documents and when dealing with a stranger (especially an older one) as a sign of respect. 2nd-person pronouns (, , , ) are often capitalized in letters, advertisement, etc. The capitalization is optional and is slowly becoming obsolete. The V verbs always end with ''te''. A variant of the formal form modeled after German (/, /, verb ) was frequently used during the 19th century but has since disappeared. This form is also associated with the Czech Jewish community before Second World War, and still appears very often in Jewish humour as sign of local colour. Sometimes it is used as irony.

In the Internet age, where people communicate under nicknames or pseudonymes and almost solely in an informal way, capitalizing (/) is used to emphasise respect, or simply presence of respect. ( = friends, honored acquaintance, strangers = basic form, / = most formal, used to create distance or express contempt, very rude if not sufficiently advocated, often used as insult itself).

In grammar, plural forms are used in personal and possessive pronouns ( – you, – your) and in verbs, but not in participles and adjectives, they are used in singular forms (when addressing a single person). This differs from some other Slavic languages ( Slovak, Russian, etc.)

Greetings are also connected with T–V distinction. Formal (good day) and (good-bye) are used with formal , while , , (meaning both ''hello'', ''hi'', and ''bye'') are informal and used with .

Lithuanian

In Lithuanian, historically, aside from familiar and respectful or , also used to express plural, there was a special form , mostly referred to in third person singular (although referring in second person singular is also not uncommon). This form was used to communicate with a stranger who has not earned particular respect (a beggar, for example). Modern Lithuanian Dictionary describes as a polite form of second singular person , making its meaning somewhere in the middle between informal and formal . Through the Soviet occupation period, however, this form was mostly replaced by standard neutral form (the vocative case for , "comrade", the latter being the standard formal form of addressing in all languages of the Soviet Union used in all situations, from "comrade Stalin" to "comrade student"), and by now is used sparsely. A common way of addressing people whom one doesn't know well is also (m) and (f), from Polish forms of address and , respectively.

Indic

Hindi and Urdu

In the standard forms of both Hindi and Urdu