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From: phoogenb@liberty.uc.wlu.edu (Peter Hoogenboom)
Subject: Re: You, Youse, ...All Y'all
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Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 17:26:05 GMT
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Joy Haftel (jkh107@netcom.com) wrote:
: In article <DMHEIG.8q3@logic.uc.wlu.edu>,
: Peter Hoogenboom <phoogenb@liberty.uc.wlu.edu> wrote:
: >Peter Hullah (Peter.Hullah@eurocontrol.fr) wrote:
: >: "You" is the second person plural - and second person formal. The English
: >: equivalent of the French "vous" or the German "Sie". The second person

: >German "sie" is not the second person plural, but the third person 
: >plural.  Therefore, it's not equivalent to "you" or "vous."

: German "Sie" is the 2nd person singular formal (I believe plural, too); 
: "sie" is 3rd person singular feminine and plural for all genders; "du" is
: informal singular; "euch" is informal plural. 

"Sie" IS the second person formal both singular and plural, but not the
informal plural, which is "ihr".  "Sie" is the third person plural. 
Spanish also uses its third person plural as the formal, I believe. 
"Euch" is not nominative, but rather ... dative? Accusative?  Genitive?  
My memory is fuzzy here.  I do remember the nominative, though:

ich, du (Sie), er/sie/es.
wir, ihr (Sie), sie.

If you doubt that "Sie" as the second person formal is, in fact, the 
third person plural, take a look at how associated verbs are conjugated, 
which is just as they would be for third person plural.

: the distinction. I have heard "y'all" used as a singular, and it gives me 
: the shivers.

Me too.

-- 
Peter Hoogenboom                        phoogenb@wlu.edu
Department of Music, DuPont 208         hoogenboom.p@fs.sciences.wlu.edu
Washington and Lee University           phoogenboom@wesleyan.edu
Lexington, VA 24450                     (540) 463-8697
