Skip to main content

Radio National: Using the word 'you' in English

Posted 
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Pebbles with letters, three spell out the word 'you'
Radio National: Using the word 'you' in English

SUBJECTS:  English, Languages

YEARS:  7–8, 9–10


Have you ever wondered why we use the word 'you' to refer to both one 'you' or many of 'you'?

Or have you ever heard anyone refer to many of 'you' using the once grammatically incorrect word 'youse'?

This program considers the words we use when we are talking to each other face to face.

It also looks at the use of the word 'you' in English and other languages like French, Dutch, Irish Gaelic and Swedish.

If you like this clip, listen to the full ABC RN documentary by clicking 'Download Audio' at https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/linguafranca/you-you-and-you/3629428


Things to think about

  1. 1.Have you ever heard anyone use the words 'thou' and 'thee' in English? Perhaps in a period drama or a classic novel? Or in a hymn or prayer? What do you think they mean? Have a look in the dictionary and see whether you are correct.
  2. 2.Make a note of the different ways of saying 'you' in French and Dutch? Later in the program listen for the words for 'you' used in Irish Gaelic and Swedish. What are some modern ways of saying more than one 'you' in English? What may be the origin of the word 'youse'? The plural form of 'you' is used in languages like French and Dutch for formal occasions. Why? Where, when and why does Professor Ahlqvist think that the use of different forms of 'you' for 'polite address' started?
  3. 3.Consider the examples of how 'you' is used in English and in other languages. Do you think that we need to have a word for the plural or formal 'you' in English in Australia? Why or why not? In what type of situations would this be a good or bad idea?
  4. 4.Take a conversation from a fairly informal situation where a number of people are talking with each other. Perhaps an extract of a TV show or the text of a play. Now change the text to show the use of the different forms of 'you'. You could use the modern plural forms like 'you guys' and the older formal terms like 'thee' and 'thou'. Read your text aloud with friends or family and see whether they think it is a good idea to speak like this. Research the use of the words 'thou' and 'thee' in English. Find out when they existed and when they started to disappear. Can you think of reasons why we stopped using these words in everyday speech? See if you can find any examples of these words still being used.



Date of broadcast: 5 Feb 2011


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Posted