[Grammar] YOU

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fluidity

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Nov 5, 2014
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Retired Academic
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English
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How is you both singular and plural?
 
fluidity said:
How is "you" both singular and plural?
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Really, fluidity? You're a native English-speaker and a retired academic?

If you're addressing one person or several you say 'you', don't you?

Perhaps your question has a deeper meaning.
 
No reason to be snippy Rover_KE. "You" can be singular or plural depending on how it is used. You can think of some examples can't you?
 
I am really surprised that a retired academic native Engish speaker doesn't know that "thou" used to be used in our language, but has fallen out of favor.
 
Don't be surprised! If a teacher is talking to a single student, he might say, "Bobby, I want you to go to the board and solve this math problem." Or, the teacher could speak directly to the whole class of 25 students and say, "Okay, now I want you to take out your books." In the first example, "you" is singular:in the second, it is plural.
 
Rover was not snippy. Your question was surprising because of your stated information. That is the the type of question we get from learners.
 
In most cases there is no ambiguity.

Remember that in informal English there are many alternatives for the second person plural: y'all, youse, yinz
 
Post sometimes as if sometimes I am a learner, thought it may help those who do not have a command of the English language. We should all be life long learners no one is an absolute English maven.
 
That's true, but every native English speaker gets the duality of "you".
 
fluidity said:
Post sometimes as if sometimes I am a learner, thought it may help those who do not have a command of the English language. We should all be life long learners no one is an absolute English maven.
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The poor standard of this post is not indicative of a native English speaker or of an academic.
 
And the same goes for your poor opinion. How pompous of you!
 
You are rapidly becoming an irritation here. Keep it up and you will soon be gone.
 
fluidity said:
And the same goes for your poor opinion. How pompous of you!
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There is no pomposity involved. All native speakers on this site are expected to write in complete sentences and to use correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Learners on the site automatically assume that that is the case and they can be easily misled into thinking something is correct simply because it was written by a native speaker. We all sometimes write short, simple sentences so that beginners can understand us but we still try to ensure that those sentences are grammatically correct in order to avoid confusion.

The way in which post #8 was written was not indicative of a native speaker nor of an academic, as I said.
 
The poor standard of your post questions you as a moderator!
 
Fine,goodbye.
 
Bye then. :hi: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
 
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