You

How to spell you

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce you

What does you mean?

1. pronounThe person or people being spoken or written to.

You in a sentence

• The manager said you would be reimbursed for travel costs.

• The letter confirmed that you had been approved for the loan.

Where does you come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes straight from Old English, where the form 'eow' served as the object case of the second person plural pronoun, paired with the subject form 'ge' (later 'ye'). It traces back to a reconstructed Germanic root shared with Dutch 'u' and German 'euch', all describing the people being addressed. Over the medieval period English gradually collapsed its singular and plural address into a single all purpose word, and 'you' steadily pushed out 'ye', 'thou' and 'thee' until it covered every situation by the 1600s. The spelling settled with 'ou' representing the long vowel, a pattern English borrowed heavily from French scribes. Because it sounds identical to 'ewe' (a female sheep) and to the letter 'U', it is a classic homophone, though its sheer frequency means few adults actually misspell it.

How the word is built

• you (a single unanalysable Old English pronoun; no prefix, root or suffix to break down)