You is a plural form of the second-person personal pronoun. Historically, the word you was only used for the dative case, but it is now used in all cases. This article will discuss the differences between the two forms of the word. The most important distinction is that you always triggers the plural verb agreement. Unlike the indefinite pronoun one, you does not refer to an object. You should use you in place of either a noun or a proper noun phrase.
The pronoun you has two variants: singular and marked plural. Singular you is usually omitted in imperative sentences, while the plural you may be included before or after the verb. Indefinite you may be used, as well. The plural form is you-all, and it is the most common. You may also use it for other purposes, such as in informal speech. Here are examples of how you may use the two forms:
In Early Modern English, you and ye overlapped in function, but you soon became the more common subject pronoun. As a result, the loss of thou and thee was felt by English speakers. Eventually, verb agreement signaled the distinction between the singular and plural you. During the eighteenth century, you remained in informal usage, but lost its respectability. To avoid confusion, special forms of you were introduced, but none of these became standard.
Another common difficulty for English online listening learners is the use of homophones. Homophones are the same words with different spellings. Using these words can be confusing, especially for beginners. Keep in mind that you’re a contraction of two words and is used in informal documents and letters, so spelling checks are unlikely to catch your homophone errors. You might also confuse you with a shortened version of the word. When you use the contraction, the apostrophe will help you to distinguish between the two.