# you

> English word · Pronoun · IPA /ju/ · frequency rank #11

## Definitions
1. The people spoken, or written to, as an object.
2. (To) yourselves, (to) yourself.
3. The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing thee; originally as a mark of respect.)
4. The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing ye.)
5. The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.)
6. A person's favorite sports team.
7. Anyone, one; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object).
8. 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.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **yu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yu)
- **yr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yr)
- **yt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yt)
- **Ys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-ys)
- **YP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yp)
- **yup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yup)
- **yrs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yrs)
- **yum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yum)
- **Yun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yun)
- **yue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yue)
- **Yui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yui)
- **yow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yow)
- **yuk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yuk)
- **yuh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yuh)
- **your** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-your)
- **yous** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yous)
- **yoyo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yoyo)
- **young** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-young)
- **you'd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-you-d)
- **yours** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/you-vs-yours)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/you