du

See also:Appendix:Variations of "du"

Languages (68)

Abinomn • Äiwoo • Albanian • Alemannic German • Amanab • Ashkun • Bambara • Basque • Bavarian • Breton • Burushaski • Catalan • Cimbrian • Cornish • Danish • Dena'ina • Dutch • Elfdalian • Esperanto • Fala • French • Gaikundi • German • Gothic • Gun • Hunsrik • Ido • Jamaican Creole • Japanese • Kalasha • Lithuanian • Lower Sorbian • Luxembourgish • Mandarin • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle High German • Middle Low German • Mòcheno • Mokilese • Norman • North Frisian • Northern Kurdish • Northern Sami • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Nupe • Obokuitai • Old French • Old High German • Old Irish • Pennsylvania German • Pite Sami • Plautdietsch • Romagnol • Romanian • Saterland Frisian • Scots • Sranan Tongo • Sumerian • Swedish • Tlingit • Tregami • Venetan • Vietnamese • Welsh • White Hmong • Yoruba

Page categories

Abinomn

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Noun

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name

Äiwoo

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Determiner

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References

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Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, inOceanic Linguistics, volume46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J.,Blust, R., &Gray, R.D. (2008).The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics.Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Albanian

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Verb

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Dialectal form ofdua

Alemannic German

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/du/

Pronoun

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thou,you

Declension

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Alemannic German personal pronouns
			nominative	accusative	dative	possessivem
singular	1st person		ich,i	mich,mi	mir,mier,mer	min,miin
	2nd person	familiar	du	dich,di	dir,dier,der	din,diin
	2nd person	polite	Si		Ine,Ene,-ne	Ire
	3rd person	m	er	in,en	im	sin,siin
		f	si		ire
		n	es,'s,-s		im	sin,siin
plural	1st person		mir,mer	üs,öis,ois,eus		üse,öise,oise,euse
	2nd person		ir,ier	öi,eu		öie,eure
	3rd person		si		ine,ene,-ne	ire

Amanab

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Noun

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a kind ofbird

Ashkun

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**Ashkun cardinal numbers**
< 1	2	3 >
Cardinal :du

Etymology

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FromProto-Nuristani*dū, fromProto-Indo-Iranian*dwáH, fromProto-Indo-European*dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/ˈdu/

Numeral

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du(Sanu)^[1]

References

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^Strand, Richard F. (2016) “d′u”, inNûristânî Etymological Lexicon‎^[1]

Bambara

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):[dúù]

Noun

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household

References

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2007.The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Basque

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/du/[d̪u]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes:-u
Hyphenation:du

Verb

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Third-person singular (hark), taking third-person singular (hura) as direct object, present indicative form ofizan.

Usage notes

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Linguistically, this verb form can be seen as belonging to the reconstructed citation formedun instead ofizan.

Bavarian

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Etymology

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Cognate withGermandu.

Pronoun

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you(nominative, singular)

Bavarian personal pronouns
	nominative	accusative	dative
stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
1^st person singular	i	—	mi	—	mia (mir)	ma
2^nd person singular	informal	du	—	di	—	dia (dir)	da
formal	Sie	—	Eahna	—	Eahna	—
3^rd person singular	m	er	a	eahm	'n	eahm	'n
n	es,des	's	des	's
f	se,de	's	se	's	ihr	—
1^st person plural	mia (mir)	ma	uns	—	uns	—
2^nd person plural	eß,ihr	—	enk,eich	—	enk,eich	—
3^rd person plural	se	's	eahna	—	eahna	—

Breton

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Etymology

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FromProto-Brythonic*duβ, fromProto-Celtic*dubus, fromProto-Indo-European*dʰewbʰ-.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/ˈdyː/

Adjective

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Mutation

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Mutation ofdu
	unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
simple form	du	zu	never occurs	never occurs
comparative	duoc'h	zuoc'h	never occurs	never occurs
superlative	duañ	zuañ	unchanged	tuañ

Derived terms

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Noun

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du m

black

Mutation

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^{The templateTemplate:br-noun-mutation does not use the parameter(s):g=m
Please seeModule:checkparams for help with this warning.}

Mutation ofdu
unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
du	zu	unchanged	tu

Verb

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third-person singular present indicative ofduañ

Mutation

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^{The templateTemplate:br-verb-mutation does not use the parameter(s):g=m
Please seeModule:checkparams for help with this warning.}

Mutation ofdu
unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
du	zu	unchanged	tu	tu

Colors in Breton ·livioù(layout ·text)
gwenn	louet	du
ruz	orañjez,melen-ruz;gell	melen
	gwer,glas
cyan		glas
	magenta;glasruz	roz

Burushaski

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):[d̪u]

Noun

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du (pluralduwants)

References

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Sadaf Munshi (2015) “Word Lists”, inBurushaski Language Documentation Project‎^[3].

Catalan

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Verb

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inflection ofdur:
1. third-person singular present indicative
2. second-person singular imperative

Cimbrian

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Etymology

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FromMiddle High Germandu, fromOld High Germandū, fromProto-West Germanic*þū, fromProto-Germanic*þū. Cognate withGermandu, archaicEnglishthou (modern dialectaltha).

Pronoun

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(Luserna,Sette Comuni)you(thou,singular familiar)
Bobralldu geast, gedenkhte berdu pist. ―Whereveryou go, remember whoyou are.

Inflection

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Sette Comuni:

Cimbrian personal pronouns
		nominative	accusative	dative
1st person singular		ich	mich	miar
2nd person singular	familiar	du	dich	diar
2nd person singular	polite	iart	ach	òich
3rd person singular	m	èar,ar	in,en	iime
	f	zi,ze		iar
	n	es,is	es,'s	iime
1st person plural		bar, bandare	zich	izàndarn
2nd person plural		iart, iartàndare,artàndare	òich,ach	ogàndarn
3rd person plural		ze,zòi, zandare	zich	innàndarn

Luserna:

Personal pronouns (Luserna)
	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	iar
3rd person	er,si,'z	se

References

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“du” inMartalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974)Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013)Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Cornish

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arth du Amerika(“American black bear”)
arth du Asi(“Asian black bear”)
bord du(“blackboard”)
Du(“November”)
duhe(“blacken”)
dulas(“dark green”)
durudh(“dark red”)
glasdu(“navy, dark blue”)
gwaneth du(“buckwheat”)
hwil du(“cockroach”)
korynt du(“blackcurrant”)
lenn dhu(“blind (window)”)
men du(“jet black”)
molgh dhu(“blackbird”)
mor du(“blackberries”)
penn du(“tadpole”)
pur dhu(“pitch black”)
rol dhu(“blacklist”)
sten du(“tin ore”)
ys du(“buckwheat”)

Mutation

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Mutation ofdu
unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed	mixed after 'th
du	dhu	unchanged	tu	tu	tu

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Colors in Cornish ·liwyow(layout ·text)
gwynn	loos,glas	du
rudh;kogh	rudhvelyn,melynrudh;gell,gorm	melyn;losvelyn
	gwyrdh,gwer,glas
glaswyrdh,glaswer;gwerlas	glaswyn,blou	glas
glasrudh,purpur;indigo	majenta;purpur,glasrudh	gwynnrudh,kigliw

Danish

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Etymology 1

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FromOld Danishthu, fromOld Norseþú, fromProto-Germanic*þū, fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂(“you”). Cognate withEnglishthou,Latintū,Sanskritत्वम्(tvam),Avestan𐬙𐬏𐬨(tūm),Russianты(ty).

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):[ˈd̥u],[d̥u]

Pronoun

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du (objectivedig)

thou,you(2nd person singular subject pronoun, informal)

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
common	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	mig	min	mit	mine
Second	modern /informal	du	dig	din	dit	dine
formal (uncommon)	De	Dem	Deres
Third	masculine (person)	han	ham	hans
feminine (person)	hun	hende	hendes
common (noun)	den	dens
neuter (noun)	det	dets
indefinite	man	en	ens
reflexive	–	sig	sin	sit	sine
Plural	First	modern	vi	os	vores
archaic /formal	vor	vort	vore
Second	–	I	jer	jeres
Third	–	de	dem	deres
reflexive	–	sig

Etymology 2

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FromOld Danishdughæ, fromOld Norseduga, fromProto-Germanic*duganą(“to be useful”), cognate withSwedishduga,Germantaugen,Gothic𐌳𐌿𐌲𐌰𐌽(dugan).

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):[ˈd̥uːˀ]

Verb

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du (imperativedu,presentdurorduer,pastduede,past participleduet)

begood
befit

Conjugation

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Conjugation ofdu

	active	passive
present	duer ordur	—
past	duede	—
infinitive	du	—
imperative	du	—

	participle
present	-
past	duet (auxiliary verbhave)
gerund	—

Dena'ina

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Particle

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interrogative particle (placed at the end of the sentence to make a question)

Dutch

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Alternative forms

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dou(obsolete,Holland)

Etymology

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FromMiddle Dutchdu, fromOld Dutchthū, fromProto-West Germanic*þū, fromProto-Germanic*þū, fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dy/
Hyphenation:du
Rhymes:-y

Pronoun

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(obsolete ordialectal)Second-person singular informal pronoun;thou
- 1620, Jacob Cats,Velt-teycken, alle eerbare jonge lieden toegeeygent:
  Sy roept,du bist een slaef, in mijne dienst gebonden
  She calls,thou art a slave, bound to my service
- 1625, Joost van den Vondel,Wiech-liedt:
  Soo leytdyn memmetjedy indyn wiechje te rust.
  Sothy mama laysthee to rest inthy cradle.

Usage notes

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Du was already falling out of general use in early modern Dutch. It was still relatively common in the oblique cases, in vocatives or close to vocative appositions and when indicating contempt.
The corresponding verbal ending was-st. The present form ofzijn wasbist, forhebben the present formshebst andhest were in use. When the nominative directly followed the verb, contraction usually occurred:-stu;bistu,hebstu.

Declension

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Nominative:du,dou,douw
Oblique:dij,dy
Possessive:dijn,dyn

Elfdalian

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Etymology

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FromOld Norseþú, fromProto-Germanic*þū, fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂. Cognate withSwedishdu.

Pronoun

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you(singular),thou

Esperanto

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**Esperanto numbers^(edit)**
	20
← 1	2	3 →
Cardinal:du Ordinal:dua Adverbial:due Multiplier:duobla,duopa Fractional:duona,duono

Etymology

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FromLatinduo, fromProto-Indo-European*dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/du/
Audio: (file)

Numeral

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two (2)

Derived terms

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duo
dupunkto(“colon”)

Fala

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Alternative forms

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do(Mañegu)

Etymology

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FromOld Galician-Portuguesedo, equivalent tode(“of”) +‎u(masculine singular definite article).

Contraction

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du m sg (pluraldus,feminineda,feminine pluraldas)

(Lagarteiru,Valverdeñu)of the

References

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Valeš, Miroslav (2021)Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[4], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published2022,→ISBN

French

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Etymology

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Inherited fromOld Frenchdel. The expected modern form would be*deau or*deu, but it underwent stronger contraction, due to its unstressed use. Akin toGaliciando,Portuguesedo,Siciliandû,Italian andSpanishdel.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dy/
Audio: (file)
(Quebec)IPA^(key):[d͡zy],[d͡zʏ]
Homophones:dû,due,dues,dus,dût

Contraction

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Contraction ofde +le(“of the”)
« Eussent » est la troisième personnedu pluriel de l’imparfaitdu subjonctif de « avoir ».
"Eussent" is the third-person plural imperfect subjunctive [form] of "avoir."
- 1802, Charles Brillat, Pierre Bazaine,Métrologie française, page249:
  Le bouge donne 9[neuf] litres plus que le point qui correspond à celuidu diamètre des fonds indiqué par la jauge[…]
  The bulge gives 9[nine] liters more than the point which corresponds to thatof the diameter of the base indicated by the gauge[…]

Usage notes

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Only used before nouns (or nominalized forms of other parts of speech, most often adjectives) that begin with consonants; before vowel-initial words, the formde l’ is used, e.g., as seen above,de l’imparfait.

Related terms

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duquel

Article

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du m sg (feminine singularde la,pluraldes)

Forms the partitive article.
Il mangedu pain. ―He eats bread. / He eatssome bread.

Usage notes

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The partitive article is used withuncountable nouns instead of the indefinite article (which is only used with countable nouns). English and most other European languages do not use any article in such cases.
Like the indefinite article, the partitive article becomes simplede with grammatical objects in negated sentences:Il ne mange pasde pain.(“He doesn't eat bread.”)
After the actual prepositionde(“of, from”), the partitive article is deleted. So one can never say*de du or*de de la.

Gaikundi

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Noun

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German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle High Germandu,duo,dū, fromOld High Germandū (akin toOld Saxonthū andEnglishthou), itself fromProto-West Germanic*þū, fromProto-Germanic*þū, fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂.

Pronunciation

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(stressed)IPA^(key):/duː/

Audio: (file)
Audio: (file)
Rhymes:-uː

(unstressed, standard)IPA^(key):/du/
(unstressed, colloquial)IPA^(key):/də/
After the second person singular verb ending-st, the/d/ is generally lost when the pronoun is unstressed. Thushast du is pronounced[ˈhast‿u] even in purposefully enunciated speech.
In colloquial speech, chiefly of northern and central Germany, the/d/ can be lost after any precedingcoronal. Thuswenn du may be pronounced[ˈvɛn‿u] or[ˈvɛn‿ə].

Pronoun

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you (singular familiar),thou

Usage notes

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Du is the informal second person pronoun. In formal speech, the third person pluralSie (always capitalised) is used instead.
A general rule of thumb is thatdu is used to address one's friends, relatives, and those under about 16 years of age.Du is always used to address children and non-human beings.
Usage also depends on the setting: two unacquainted, middle-aged persons are likely to usedu when they meet at social gatherings, but much less so when they happen on each other in the street. People under 30 often usedu among each other, but they still useSie when one of them is at work, e.g. in a shop (some cafés and most pubs are an exception).
There is also a great deal of (often subtle) regional variation throughout the German-speaking world.

Declension

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German personal pronouns
	singular					plural			sing. and pl.
	1st person	2nd person familiar¹	3rd person			1st person	2nd person familiar¹	3rd person	2nd person polite/formal
	1st person	2nd person familiar¹	m	f	n	1st person	2nd person familiar¹	3rd person	2nd person polite/formal
nominative	ich	du -e²	er	sie -se²	es	wir	ihr	sie -se²	Sie Ihr³
genitive	meiner mein³	deiner dein³	seiner sein³	ihrer	seiner sein³	unser	euer	ihrer	Ihrer Euer³
dative	mir	dir	ihm	ihr	ihm	uns	euch	ihnen	Ihnen Euch³
accusative	mich	dich	ihn	sie -se²	es	uns	euch	sie -se²	Sie Euch³

¹These forms are sometimes capitalized, especially in letters. ²enclitic,colloquial ³archaic

Derived terms

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duzen
Du n

Gothic

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Romanization

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Romanization of𐌳𐌿

Gun

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Alternative forms

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ɖù(Benin)

Etymology

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FromProto-Gbe*ɖu. Cognates includeFonɖù,Saxwe Gbeɖù,Adjaɖù,Eweɖu

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/ɖù/

Verb

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dù(Nigeria)

toeat
tobite
Àgọ̀sú hò àvún dàhó dé bọ̀ àvún wádù ví étọ̀n ―Agosu bought a certain big dog and the dog eventuallybit his child
towin

Derived terms

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dù gbẹ́(“to enjoy life”)
dù gán(“to become a chief”)
dù hwè(“to celebrate”)
dù kwẹ́(“to spend money”)
dù nùgò(“to boast”)
dù nú(“to eat something”)
dù wìyán(“to be ashamed”)
dù yà(“to suffer”)
dù àdì(“to be angry”)
dù àxọ́(“to go bankrupt/have debt”)
núdùdù(“food”)
vòdùtọ́(“candidate”)

Hunsrik

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Alternative forms

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tuu(Wiesemann spelling)

Etymology

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FromMiddle High German andOld High Germandū (akin toOld Saxonthū andEnglishthou), itself fromProto-Germanic*þū, fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/tuː/,/tə/

Pronoun

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thou,you
Du bist aarich scheen.
You are so beautiful.

Inflection

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Hunsrik personal pronouns
			nominative		accusative		dative
			proclitic	enclitic	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
singular	1st person		ich eich	-ich	mich meich		meer	mer m'r
	2nd person (informal)		du dau/Dau	-du,-de -Dau,-De	dich deich/Deich		deer	der d'r/D'r
	3rd person	m	er;där	-er	ihn	en	ihm	em
		f	sie;die	-se	sie /ihns	se	eer ehr	re
		n	es;das et,'t	's	es et	-et,-'t	ihm	em
plural	1st person		meer	mer	uns uhs
	2nd person		deer Ehr,Dehr	der	eich Auch
	3rd person		sie;die	-se	sie	se	denne

Ido

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**Ido numbers^(edit)**
	20
← 1	2	3 →
Cardinal:du Ordinal:duesma Adverbial:dufoye Multiplier:duopla Fractional:duima

Etymology

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FromEsperantodu, fromFrenchdeux,Spanishdos,Italiandue, ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*dwóh₁.

Numeral

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two (2)

Jamaican Creole

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Etymology

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Derived fromEnglishdo.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/du/

Verb

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todo
Shi aks im fidu sitn fi ar.
She asked him todo something for her.
Singin muotaimdu ina gruup a ada myuuzishan
Singing is oftendone in a group of other musicians
- 2012,Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published2012,→ISBN,Filipiyan 4:13:
  Mi kyandu eniting, kaaz Krais Jiizas gi mi di powa fidu it.
  I cando all things through Christ, because he gives me strength [todo it].

Japanese

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Romanization

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Thekatakana syllableドゥ(du) inHepburn-like romanization.

Kalasha

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Etymology

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FromSanskritद्व(dva), fromProto-Indo-European*dwóh₁. CompareHindiदो(do),Bhojpuriदू(dū),Konkaniदोन(don).

Numeral

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two (2)

Lithuanian

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Etymology

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FromProto-Baltic*d(u)u̯ō, fromProto-Indo-European*dwóh₁. CompareLatviandivi. Cognate toLatinduo.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):[d̪ʊ]

Numeral

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**Lithuanian cardinal numbers**
< 1	2	3 >
Cardinal :du Ordinal :antras

dù m (femininedvi̇̀)

two (2)

Declension

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Declension ofdu
	masculine	feminine
nominative	dù	dvi̇̀
genitive	dviejų̃	dviejų̃
dative	dvi̇́em	dvi̇́em
accusative	dù	dvi̇̀
instrumental	dviẽm	dviẽm
locative	dviejuosè	dviejosè

Forms ofdu

	masculine	feminine
quantitative	du	dvi
plural	dveji	dvejos
collective	dvejetas	dvejeta
ordinal	antras	antra

Lower Sorbian

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Etymology

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FromProto-Slavic*jьdǫ(first-person singular) and*jьdǫtь(third-person plural), inflected forms of*jьti.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/du/

Verb

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inflection ofhyś:
1. first-person singular present
2. third-person plural present

Synonyms

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(first-person singular):źom

Luxembourgish

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Etymology

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FromProto-Germanic*þū.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/du/,[du(ː)]

Pronoun

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second-person singular, informal, nominative:you,thou
Wéi al bassdu? ―How old areyou?

Declension

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Luxembourgish personal pronouns
				nominative		accusative		dative		reflexive
				stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	reflexive
singular	1st person			ech	—	mech	—	mir	mer	like dat. and acc.
	2nd person	informal		du	de	dech	—	dir	der	like dat. and acc.
	2nd person	formal		Dir	Der	Iech	Iech[əɕ]	Iech	Iech[əɕ]	Iech
	3rd person		m	hien	en	hien	en	him	em	sech
			f	si	se	si	se	hir	er	sech
			n	hatt	et ('t)	hatt	et ('t)	him	em	sech
plural	1st person			mir	mer	eis (ons)	—	eis (ons)	—	eis (ons)
	2nd person			dir	der	iech	iech[əɕ]	iech	iech[əɕ]	iech
	3rd person			si	se	si	se	hinnen	en	sech

Mandarin

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Romanization

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Nonstandard spelling ofdū.
Nonstandard spelling ofdú.
Nonstandard spelling ofdǔ.
Nonstandard spelling ofdù.

Usage notes

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Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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FromOld Dutchthū, fromProto-West Germanic*þū, fromProto-Germanic*þū.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dyː/,/dy/
(Limburg)IPA^(key):/duː/,/du/

Pronoun

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thou,you(singular, informal)
Synonym:gi

Usage notes

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This pronoun began to be replaced bygi in formal address during the Middle Dutch period, and eventually fell out of use altogether.

Inflection

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Middle Dutch personal pronouns
			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ic	mi		mijn
	2nd person		du	di		dijn
	3rd person	m	hi	hem,hen		sijn
		f	si	haer		haer
		n	het		hem,hen	sijn
plural	1st person		wi	ons		onse
	2nd person		gi	u		uwe
	3rd person		si	hem,hen		haer

Descendants

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Dutch:(obsolete)du,dou,douw
Limburgish:doe

Middle English

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Adjective

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Alternative form ofdewe(“due”)

Middle High German

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Etymology

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Inherited fromOld High Germandū, fromProto-West Germanic*þū, fromProto-Germanic*þū, whence alsoOld Englishþū,Old Norseþú, and ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂.

Pronoun

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duordû

(personal)you(thou, singular familiar)

Inflection

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Middle High German personal pronouns
			nominative	genitive	dative	accusative
singular	first person		ich	mīn	mir	mich
	second person		du,dū	dīn	dir	dich
	third person	m	ër CGhë(r)	sīn	im(e)	in
		f	siu	ir(e)	ir(e)	sie
		n	ëȥ CGiȥ,it	es	im(e)	ëȥ CGiȥ,it
plural	first person		wir	unser	uns	uns,unsich
	second person		ir	iuwer	iu,iuch	iuch
	third person	m	sie	ir(e)	in	sie
		f	sie			sie
		n	siu			siu

The distinction of the formssiu andsie as shown above is typical of earlierUpper German texts, but was never general. The formssī andsi existed additionally and all four were increasingly used without differentiation.

Descendants

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Alemannic German:du
Swabian:dau,d
Bavarian:
Cimbrian:du
Mòcheno:du
Central Franconian:du,dou
Hunsrik:du
Kölsch:do
German:du
Luxembourgish:du
Rhine Franconian:
Palatine German:du
Pennsylvania German:du
Yiddish:דו(du)

Middle Low German

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Etymology

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FromOld Saxonthū, fromProto-Germanic*þū.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/duː/

Pronoun

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dû

thou,you(second person singular nominative)

Declension

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Middle Low German personal pronouns
			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ik (ek)	mî (mê,mik,mek)		mîn (mîner)
	2nd person		dû	dî (dê,dik,dek)		dîn (dîner)
	3rd person	m	hê (hî,hie)	ēne,en (ȫne,ȫn)	ēme,em (ȫme,en)	sîn (sîner)
		n	it (et)		ēme,em (ȫme,en)	sîn (sîner)
		f	sê (sî,sie,sü̂)		ēre,ēr (ērer,ȫrer)
plural	1st person		wî (wê,wie)	uns (ûs,ös,ü̂sik)		unser (ûser)
	2nd person		gî (jê,î)	jû (jûwe,û,jük,gik)		jûwer (ûwer)
	3rd person		sê (sî,sie)		em,öm,jüm (en,ēnen,ȫnen)	ēre,ēr (ērer,ȫrer)

For an explanation of the forms in bracketssee here.

Descendants

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Mòcheno

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Etymology

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FromMiddle High Germandu, fromOld High Germandū, fromProto-West Germanic*þū, fromProto-Germanic*þū. Cognate withGermandu, archaicEnglishthou (modern dialectaltha).

Pronoun

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you(thou, singular familiar)

Inflection

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Personal pronouns
	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	ir
3rd person	er,si,s	sei

References

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“du” inCimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Mokilese

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/ˈdu/

Verb

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(intransitive) tosink

Derived terms

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kadu

Norman

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Etymology

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FromLatindux, ducem.

Noun

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du m

duke

Related terms

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duchie

North Frisian

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Alternative forms

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düünj(Mooring)
dö(Sylt)

Etymology

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FromOld Frisiandwā, fromProto-Germanic*dōną. Cognates includeWest Frisiandwaan,Englishdo.

Verb

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(Föhr-Amrum) todo
(Föhr-Amrum) togive

Conjugation

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Conjugation ofdu (Föhr-Amrum dialect)

	present	past
infinitive I	du
infinitive II	(tu) dun
past participle	den
imperative singular	du
imperative plural	du’m
1st singular	du	ded, diad
2nd singular	deest	dedst, diadst
3rd singular	dee	ded, diad
plural	du	ded, diad
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	haa den	hed den
2nd singular	heest den	hedst den
3rd singular	hee den	hed den
plural	haa den	hed den
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skal du	wal du
2nd singular	skääl du	wääl du
3rd singular	skal du	wal du
plural	skel du	wel du

Northern Kurdish

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Etymology

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FromProto-Iranian*dwáH (comparePersianدو(do),Pashtoدوه(dwa),Avestan𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬀(duua)), fromProto-Indo-Iranian*dwáH (compareSanskritद्व(dvá),Marathiदोन(don),Hindiदो(do)/Urduدو(do),Punjabiਦੋ(do)), fromProto-Indo-European*dwóh₁ (compareRussianдва(dva),Lithuaniandu,Greekδύο(dýo),Spanishdos,Englishtwo).

Numeral

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Central Kurdish	دوو(dû)

two (2)

Northern Sami

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Pronunciation

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(Kautokeino)IPA^(key):/ˈtuː/

Pronoun

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dū

accusative/genitive ofdon

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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FromOld Norseþú(“you”), fromProto-Germanic*þū(“you”), fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂(“you”).

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dʉː/,[dÿː]
Audio: (file)

Pronoun

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du (objective casedeg)

thou,you (second person, singular)

Derived terms

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due(“to say 'you' to someone”)

Verb

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imperative ofdue

References

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“du” inThe Bokmål Dictionary.

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
feminine	masculine	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	meg	mi	min	mitt	mine
Second	general	du	deg	di	din	ditt	dine
formal (rare)	De	Dem	Deres
Third	feminine (person)	hun	henne	hennes
masculine (person)	han	ham /han	hans
feminine (noun)	den	dens
masculine (noun)
neuter (noun)	det	dets
reflexive	–	seg	si	sin	sitt	sine
Plural	First	–	vi	oss	vår	vårt	våre
Second	general	dere	deres
formal (very rare)	De	Dem	Deres
Third	general	de	dem	deres
reflexive	–	seg	si	sin	sitt	sine

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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FromOld Norseþú, fromProto-Germanic*þū, fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂. Akin toEnglishthou.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dʉː/

Pronoun

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du (objective casedeg)

you,thou (second person, singular)

References

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“du” inThe Nynorsk Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk personal pronouns
		first person	second person	reflexive	third person
masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	nominative	eg,je¹	du	—	han	ho	det,dat²
accusative	meg	deg	seg	han,honom²	ho,henne²	det,dat²
dative²	meg	deg	seg	honom	henne	di²
genitive	min	din	sin	hans	hennar,hennes¹	dess³
plural	nominative	me,vi	de,dokker	—	dei
accusative	oss,okk	dykk,dokker	seg	dei,deim²
dative	oss,okk	dykk,dokker	seg	deim²
genitive	vår,okkar	dykkar,dokkar	sin	deira,deires¹

Nupe

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Etymology 1

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dū/

Verb

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toboil
Musa dàdà á nakàndu ―Musa quicklyboiled the meat
tobrew

Etymology 2

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dù/

Verb

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dù

(of rain) tofall
Ele èdù à ―It's not raining (literally, “Rain is notfalling”)

Etymology 3

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dū/

Verb

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toshake

Obokuitai

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Noun

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bird

Old French

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Alternative forms

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Contraction

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contraction ofde +le (of the)

Old High German

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one drawing of the inscription on the Bülach fibula

Alternative forms

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thū,ᛞᚢ(du)

Etymology

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FromProto-West Germanic*þū, fromProto-Germanic*þū, whence alsoOld Englishþū,Old Norseþú, and ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂. Perhaps the earliest attestation of the pronoun is the inscription on theBülach fibula, which may showᛞᚢ(du) already differentiated from other Germanic languages’þu.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/duː/

Pronoun

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dū

thou,you(second-person singular pronoun)
- 6th-7th century, inscription on theBülach fibula:
  ᚠᚱᛁᚠᚱᛁᛞᛁᛚ /ᛞᚢ / ...
  frifridil /du /[…]
  frifridil /du / ...
  frifridil /du /[…]
  [my] beloved,you /[…]

Usage notes

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Some speakers ofOld High German appear to have contrasted the "polite" singular (plural forms) with the regular, informal singular (singular forms), as inNew High German (Modern German)Sie versusdu. This distinction is however not well-attested, and may have been regional, genre-dependent, or only in Late Old High German.

Inflection

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Old High German personal pronouns
			nominative	genitive	dative	accusative
singular	first person		ih (ihha,ihcha)	mīn	mir	mih
	second person		dū	dīn	dir	dih
	third person	m	er (her)	(sīn)	imu,imo	inan,in
		f	siu;sī,si	ira (iru,iro)	iru,iro	sia
		n	iz	es,is	imu,imo	iz
plural	first person		wir	unsēr	uns	unsih
	second person¹		ir	iuwēr	iu	iuwih
	third person	n	sie	iro	im,in	sie
		f	sio	iro	im,in	sio
		n	siu	iro	im,in	siu

¹ Also polite singular form

Descendants

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Middle High German:du
- Alemannic German:du
  Swabian:dau,d
- Bavarian:
  Cimbrian:du
  Mòcheno:du
- Central Franconian:du,dou
  Hunsrik:du
  Kölsch:do
- German:du
- Luxembourgish:du
- Rhine Franconian:
  Palatine German:du
  Pennsylvania German:du
- Yiddish:דו(du)

References

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Heinz Klingenberg,Runenfibel von Bülach, Kanton Zürich. Liebesinschrift aus alemannischer Frühzeit, in theAlemannisches Jahrbuch (1973/75), page 308
Heinz Klingenberg,Die Runeninschrift aus Bülach, inHelvetia archaeologica, volume 7 (1976), pages 116–121
Stephan Opitz,Südgermanische Runeninschriften im älteren Futhark aus der Merowingerzeit (Freiburg im Breisgau,1977)

Old Irish

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Preposition

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Alternative form ofdo

Mutation

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Mutation ofdu
radical	lenition	nasalization
du	du pronounced with/ð(ʲ)-/	ndu

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Pennsylvania German

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Etymology

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CompareGermandu,Englishthou,Swedishdu.

Pronoun

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you,thou

Declension

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Pennsylvania German personal pronouns
Number	singular						plural
Person/ Gender	1st	2nd person		3rd person			1st	2nd	3rd
Person/ Gender	1st	familiar	polite/formal	m	f	n	1st	2nd	3rd
nominative	ich	du de¹	dihr der¹ Sie	er	sie se¹	es	mir mer¹	dihr der¹	sie
dative	mir mer¹	dir der¹	eich Ihne Ne¹	ihm em¹	ihre re¹	ihm em¹	uns	eich	ihne ne¹
accusative	mich	dich	eich Sie	ihn en¹	sie se¹	es	uns	eich	sie

¹ unstressed

Pite Sami

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/tu/

Pronoun

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those

Pite Sami demonstrative pronouns
	singular	plural
proximal	dát	dá
distal	dat	da
remote	dut	du

References

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Joshua Wilbur (2014)A grammar of Pite Saami, Berlin: Language Science Press

Plautdietsch

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Pronoun

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du (obliquedie)

you (singular)

Romagnol

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**Romagnol numbers^(edit)**
	20
^[a],[b] ← 1	2	3 → ^[a],[b]
Cardinal:du Ordinal:șgónd Multiplier:dópi Fractional:mëẓ

Etymology

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FromLatindŭo(“two”).

Pronunciation

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(Central Romagnol):IPA^(key):[ˈduː]

(Ville Unite):

Numeral

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du (femininedó)

References

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Masotti, Adelmo (1996)Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano [Romagnol-Italian dictionary] (in Italian), Bologna: Zanichelli, pages189, 194

Romanian

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Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):[du]

Verb

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second-person singular imperative ofduce
Du-te acasă.
Go home.

Saterland Frisian

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Etymology

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FromOld Frisianthū, fromProto-West Germanic*þū.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/du/
Hyphenation:du
Rhymes:-u

Pronoun

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du (obliquedie)

thou,you

Usage notes

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du is at times omitted when used with a verb.

Saterland Frisian personal pronouns
	subject case	object case
stressed	unstressed
singular	1st	iek	mie
2nd	du	die
3rd	m	hie	er	him
f	ju	ze	hier
n	dät	et	dät
plural	1st	wie	uus
2nd	jie	jou
3rd	jo	ze	hier

References

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Marron C. Fort (2015) “du”, inSaterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske,→ISBN

Scots

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Pronoun

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du (objective casedee,vocativedee,possessive determinerdines)

Northern Isles form ofthou(“thou”)

Sranan Tongo

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Etymology 1

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FromEnglishdo.

Verb

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todo

Noun

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deed,action

Etymology 2

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Probably fromEweɖú(“dance”),Fonɖùwè(“dance”).^[1]

Noun

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(historical) a festival of song and dance organised and performed by and for enslaved people

Descendants

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→ Dutch:doe

References

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^Norval Smith (2009) “A preliminary list of probable Gbe lexical items in the Surinam Creoles”, inP. Muysken, N. Smith, editors,Surviving the Middle Passage: The West Africa-Surinam Sprachbund, Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton,→ISBN, page465.

Sumerian

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Romanization

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Romanization of𒁺(du)

Swedish

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SwedishWikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia^sv

Alternative forms

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dhu,thu,tu,tv(obsolete)

Dialectal forms

Etymology

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FromOld Swedishþū, fromOld Norseþú, fromProto-Germanic*þū, fromProto-Indo-European*túh₂.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/dʉː/,[d̪ʉː],(unstressed)/dɵ/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes:-ʉː

Pronoun

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you(subjective case, singular)
Nisse,du är en liten groda
Nisse,you are a small frog
- 1981,X Models, “Två av oss [Two of us]”‎^[5]:
  Det finns bara en av mig och det är jag. Det finns bara en av dig och det ärdu. Det finns bara två av oss, och det är vi.
  There is only one of me and that is I. There is only one of you [object] and that isyou [subject]. There are only two of us, and that is us [we – subject]. [Swedish has some of the same subject/object fuzziness as English, but a standalone "Det är <pronoun>" idiomatically (through intuition rather than being taught) uses the subject form]
1. thou (if fitting for the context)
  - 1649,Jacobus Petri Chronander,Bele-Snack, Eller Een Ny Comœdia, act I, scene IV, page40:
    TV Konstrijke Mästare, godt rådh giff,
    Skall man nu skona thenna skelmens lijff?
    THOU artful Master, good counsel give,
    Should one now spare this scoundrel's life?
Used as avocative to get someone's attention;hey
Du Nisse, har du matat katten?
Hey Nisse, have you fed the cat?
Du,skulle du kunna räcka mig skeden?
Hey, could you hand me the spoon?
Jo du, jagkom precis påen till grej vi måste göra
Oh, by the way [roughly – literally, "yeah you," or "listen you" or the like – seejo], I just remembered another thing we need to do
- 1984, “Vargsången [The wolf song]”,Astrid Lindgren (lyrics),Björn Isfält (music)‎^[6]performed byLena Nyman:
  Vargen ylar i nattens skog. Han vill men kan inte sova. Hungern river hans vargabuk, och det är kallt i hans stova.Du varg,du varg, kom inte hit. Ungen min får du aldrig.
  The wolf howls in the forest of the night. He wants to sleep but cannot. ["He wants to but cannot sleep" – "He wants to X" is "Han vill X"] [The] hunger tears his wolf's belly, and it is cold in hisstove [archaic, dialectal, in the dated English sense].Hey wolf,hey wolf, do not come here [hither, to here]. My child you will never have.

Usage notes

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Whiledu is the traditionally familiar mode of address, it is since the early '70s the standard in almost all circumstances, possibly capitalized in formal communications. This was the result of the so-calleddu-reformen.

Recently, use of the second-person plural pronounni as a less familiar (and thus more formal) pronoun has appeared to some extent, but mainly amongst shopkeepers towards customers.

The same pronounni has also been used historically as a formal way of address, but its use has (in particular in Sweden, not so much in Swedish-speaking parts of Finland) been restricted to addressing people of lower social status, whereby a plethora of different constructions were employed as to avoid the issue of pronouns whatsoever. See also the article aboutT-V distinction in Wikipedia.

Declension

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Swedish personal pronouns
Number	Person		nominative	oblique	possessive
Number	Person		nominative	oblique	common	neuter	plural
singular	first	—	jag	mig,mej³	min	mitt	mina
	second	—	du	dig,dej³	din	ditt	dina
	third	masculine (person)	han	honom,han²,en⁵	hans
		feminine (person)	hon	henne,na⁵	hennes
		gender-neutral (person)¹	hen	hen,henom⁷	hens
		common (noun)	den	den	dess
		neuter (noun)	det	det	dess
		indefinite	manoren⁴	en	ens
		reflexive	—	sig,sej³	sin	sitt	sina
plural	first	—	vi	oss	vår,våran²	vårt,vårat²	våra
	second	—	ni	er	er,eran²,ers⁶	ert,erat²	era
	second	archaic	I	eder	eder,eders⁶	edert	edra
	third	—	de,dom³	dem,dom³	deras
	third	reflexive	—	sig,sej³	sin	sitt	sina

¹Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, though it remains limited.

²Informal

³Colloquialpronunciation spelling.

⁴Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative toman, to avoid association to the male gender.

⁵Informal, somewhat dialectal

⁶Formal address

⁷Discouraged by theSwedish Language Council

Derived terms

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References

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Anagrams

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Tlingit

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Pronoun

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his/her

Tregami

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**Tregami cardinal numbers**
< 1	2	3 >
Cardinal :du

Etymology

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FromProto-Nuristani*dū, fromProto-Indo-Iranian*dwáH, fromProto-Indo-European*dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

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IPA^(key):/ˈdu/

Numeral

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du(Gambir)^[1]

References

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^Strand, Richard F. (2016) “d′u”, inNûristânî Etymological Lexicon‎^[2]

Venetan

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Etymology

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CompareItaliandue

Numeral

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du m

Synonyms

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Vietnamese

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Etymology

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Both characters below depict a single etymology.遊 (MC yuw) also has a less common readingdo, now seen only indo thám.

Pronunciation

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(Hà Nội)IPA^(key):[zu˧˧]
(Huế)IPA^(key):[jʊw˧˧]
(Saigon)IPA^(key):[jʊw˧˧]

Romanization

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Sino-Vietnamese reading of遊
Sino-Vietnamese reading of游

Derived terms

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Welsh

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Etymology

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FromProto-Brythonic*duβ, fromProto-Celtic*dubus, fromProto-Indo-European*dʰewbʰ-.

Pronunciation

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(North Wales)IPA^(key):/dɨː/
(South Wales)IPA^(key):/diː/
Homophone:dŷ;(South Wales)di
Rhymes:-ɨː

Adjective

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du (feminine singulardu,pluralduon,equativedued,comparativeduach,superlativeduaf)

black
Mae ganddo fo fwstashdu.
He has ablack mustache

Derived terms

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du a gwyn(“black and white; piebald”)
twll du(“black hole”)
tyngu'r du yn wyn(“to swear black is white”)

Related terms

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düwch

Mutation

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Mutated forms ofdu
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
du	ddu	nu	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Colors in Welsh ·lliwiau(layout ·text)
gwyn	llwyd	du
coch;rhudd	oren,melyngoch;brown	melyn;melynwyn
melynwyrdd	gwyrdd
gwyrddlas;glaswyrdd	asur,gwynlas	glas
fioled,rhuddlas;indigo	majenta;porffor	pinc,rhuddwyn