Originally posted by KrazyHorse
As in French, the plural second person pronoun was used as a polite form of address to one's superiors. Over time, standards of politeness crept to the point where it was almost rude to address anybody as "thee" instead of "you". Finally, "thee" was seen as simply obsolete...
As in French, the plural second person pronoun was used as a polite form of address to one's superiors. Over time, standards of politeness crept to the point where it was almost rude to address anybody as "thee" instead of "you". Finally, "thee" was seen as simply obsolete...
Spanish in Spain also has as plural "vosotros", in spain vosotros is the common you plural and usted the polite you plural. In latin america vosotros is never used, ustedes is the only plural, it is easier to find a cowboy in texas using thou than a latin american using vosotros.
In Argentina Uruguay Paraguay "tu" is replaced by "vos", in Guatemala, Nicaragua, costa rica that also happens, but it is not standard spanish (by not standard I mean they are only around 15% of spanish speakers).
In one of those countries, Nicaragua I think, using "tu" is seen as girly, so men use "vos" as you singular and women use "tu"
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