3 Russian words for You and when to use each of them

Hi guys, today we will talk about the pronoun ‘you’ and what the Russian words for you are. Actually, there are three Russian words for you.
The first Russian word for you is «ты» which means you, but it’s not a simple ‘you’, it’s ‘you’ with a context. We use it when addressing friends, close relatives such as parents, children, grandparents.

If you address somebody in the street with ‘Hey you!’ expect some trouble from them.

You can use this word addressing your siblings, colleagues of our age and status, classmates and so on. Avoid saying «ты» to strangers, unless you are talking to a child. In this case you may say «ты». In other cases if you address a stranger (even a younger one!) with «ты», you sound impolite and bad-mannered. Don’t expect them to help you! 🙂

The second Russian word for you is «вы». «Вы» also means you, but you say it in formal situations. You use «вы» when you address people older than you, higher in status or strangers. Sometimes «вы» is used within the family, when addressing aunts, uncles, grandaunts and so on.

The third Russian word for you is… also «вы»! You see that the Russian translation for ‘you’ is the same; but this time it’s used differently from the above «вы». We say «вы» when addressing a group of people in Russian. Even if it’s possible to say «ты» to each member of this group, when you address them all, you say «вы»!

Ok, I hope this one helps! Feel free to ask anything in the comment section and you are welcome to subscribe to Speak Russian Like Russians!

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