| 12345678910111213141516171819 |
- <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
- <!DOCTYPE html
- PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
- <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>When to use Вы and Ты</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.79.2"/><link rel="home" href="index.xhtml" title="The RUSSIAN Fast Course"/><link rel="up" href="ch03.xhtml" title="Chapter 3. Lesson 3"/><link rel="prev" href="ch03s02.xhtml" title="Russian names"/><link rel="next" href="ch03s04.xhtml" title="Addressing friends and acquaintances in Russian"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">When to use Вы and Ты</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ch03s02.xhtml">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 3. Lesson 3</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ch03s04.xhtml">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="d5e6267"/>When to use Вы and Ты</h2></div></div></div><p>Russian, unlike English, has two different forms of the second person singular pronoun
- "you": <span class="bold"><strong>вы</strong></span> and <span class="bold"><strong>ты</strong></span>. Compare
- these to the French <span class="bold"><strong>Vous</strong></span> and <span class="bold"><strong>tu</strong></span> or the German <span class="bold"><strong>Sie</strong></span> and <span class="bold"><strong>du</strong></span>. The <span class="bold"><strong>вы</strong></span> form is also the second person
- plural.</p><p><span class="bold"><strong>Вы</strong></span> is used in formal situations, work settings, when
- speaking to a superior or to someone older, to whom you wish to show a degree of respect.
- <span class="bold"><strong>Вы</strong></span> indicates distance (emotional, social or
- chronological).</p><p><span class="bold"><strong>Ты</strong></span> is used in informal situations, family relationships
- (between spouses, parents and children, between siblings and with other relatives), when
- speaking to someone younger than you. <span class="bold"><strong>Ты</strong></span> indicates closeness
- (in age or in terms of friendship and intimacy).</p><p><span class="bold"><strong>Вы</strong></span>-forms of address can be full first name plus
- patronymic, full first name minus patronymic, or shortened first name only. <span class="bold"><strong>Ты</strong></span>-forms of address will be first name only, either full or
- shortened.</p><p><span class="bold"><strong>Ты</strong></span> is always used when addressing God, speaking to
- children (your own or anyone's) and calling your cat or dog.</p><p>When they first meet, adults will usually begin by addressing each other as <span class="bold"><strong>Вы</strong></span>. At some point in time in the relationship, one may suggest to the
- other that they change to <span class="bold"><strong>ты</strong></span> by saying: <span class="bold"><strong>Давайте перейдём на ты;</strong></span> ог <span class="bold"><strong>Можно на ты?</strong></span> If this
- is mutually agreeable, the relationship passes onto a new level; some people even make a
- ritual of it by drinking <span class="bold"><strong>"брудершафт"</strong></span>.</p></div><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ch03s02.xhtml">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="ch03.xhtml">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ch03s04.xhtml">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Russian names </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.xhtml">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Addressing friends and acquaintances in Russian</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
|
