You origins (2nd person pronoun): Difference between revisions

You origins (2nd person pronoun) (view source)

845 bytes added , 20 November 2022

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 == Ye as a definite article ("the") ==
+* "''Ye Olde Shoppe''" as a title or name of a place is used commonly
+** here, "''ye''" takes on the role of the definite article, "''the''"
+* the replacement of "ye" for "the" was the result of writing practices by early scribes
+** those scribes used the letter "thorn", an Old English character, to represent the "''e''" in "''ye''"
+*** but that "thorn" character was not available to early printers
+*** they used the letter "y" to represent the "''th''" sound in "''the''"
+*** thus, "''the''" was for a time written as "''ye''" (while pronounced "the")
+== You as generic (indeterminate) person ==
+* "you" is commonly used synonymously as "one" to indicate a generic or indeterminate (not-specific) person
+** as in "''You should really think before acting''" as general advice, not to a particular person
+* also known as the "generic you"
 [[Category:Grammar]]
 [[Category:Language]]
 [[Category:English Literature]]