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Second person pronouns

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The second person pronouns in Afrikaans distinguish between singular and plural. The singular takes jy you.SG.SUB as subject, and jou you.SG.OJB as object (1).

Jy weet meneer kry steek in sy tande as dit koud is.

you.SG know mister get sting in his teeth when it cold be.PR

You know his teeth sting when it is cold.

VivA-KPO

Kom hier dat ek jou kan gelukwens.

come here that.COMP I you.SG can.AUX.MOD congratulate

Come here so that I can congratulate you.

VivA-KPO

The second person plural pronoun form is julle you.PL, whether used as subject or object (2).

Julle ken al die storie.

you.PL know already the story

You already know the story.

VivA-KPO

Ek sal julle nie vergeet nie.

I will.AUX you.PL not forget PTCL.NEG

I will never forget you.

VivA-KPO

Afrikaans also has a honorific second person pronoun u you.HON, which is unmarked for number or case (3).

Ons onderneming teenoor u is om aan u meer keuses te bied.

our undertaking against you.HON be.PRS for.COMP for you.HON more choices PTCL.INF offer.INF

We undertake to offer you more options.

VivA-KPO

Second person singular pronouns
Second person plural pronouns
Honorific second person pronouns and forms of address

[+]Second person singular pronouns

The second person singular pronoun in Afrikaans takes the subject form jy you.SG.SUB (4a and 4b). The subject form is occasionally used with a postmodifier, often the adverb daar there (4c), sometimes an adjective phrase (AP) (4d), or a noun phrase (NP) (4e).

Jy kan dit vir jou vat.

you.SG can.AUX.MOD it for you.SG take

You can take it for yourself.

VivA-KPO

Hoekom het jy nie geluister nie?

why have.AUX you.SG not listen.PST PTCL.NEG

Why did you not listen?

VivA-KPO

Jy daar, wie en wat is jy?

you.SG there who.REL and what be.PRS you.SG

You there, who and what are you?

VivA-KPO

Hey, jy daar agter by die motorbike...

hey you.SG there behind at the motorbike

Hey, you there in the back at the motorbike...

VivA-KPO

Jy die leser, is die hoofkarakter in die boek.

you.SG the reader be.PRS the head.character in the book

You the reader, is the main character in the book.

VivA-KPO

The object form of the second person singular pronoun is jou you.SG.OBJ (5a), also used in prepositional phrases (PPs) (5b).

Meeste van die gashandelaars sal jou kan help.

most of the gas.dealers will you.SG can help

Most of the gas dealers will be able to help you.

VivA-KPO

Daar mag nie teen jou gediskrimineer word nie.

there may.AUX.MOD not against you.SG discriminate.PASS become.AUX.PASS.PRS PTCL.NEG

There may not be discriminated against you.

VivA-KPO

[+]Second person plural pronouns

The form of the second person plural pronoun, julle you.PL, is the same whether it is used as a subject (6a), an object (6b), or in a PP (6c).

Julle was gesuip, punt.

you.PL be.PRT drunk period

You were drunk, period.

VivA-KPO

Ek wil julle vandag 'n ding vertel.

I want.to.AUX.MOD you.PL today a thing tell

I want to tell you something today.

VivA-KPO

Dit het niks met julle uit te waai nie.

it have.PRS nothing with you.PL out to wave PTCL.NEG

It has nothing to do with you.

VivA-KPO

The second person plural julle can be used with a postmodifier, including a noun (7a) or NP (7b), a numeral (7c), or an indefinite pronoun (7d and 7e).

Ag, toe nou, ek weet mos hoe is julle meisies.

oh then now I know surely how be.PRS you.PL girls

Oh, come now, I know how you girls are.

VivA-KPO

Dankie julle twee dames dat julle ons webblad deurgeblaai het.

thanks you.PL two ladies that.COMP you.PL our webpage through.page.PST have.AUX

Thanks you two ladies, that you paged through our webpage.

VivA-KPO

Dan is julle drie nou versorg.

then be.PRS you.PL three now cared.for

Then the three of you are taken care of.

VivA-KPO

En dit is reg dat julle elkeen 'n opinie lig.

and it be.PRS right that.COMP you.PL everyone a opinion raise

And it is good that each of you raises an opinion.

VivA-KPO

Nou kan julle almal saam malvalekkers braai en saam gesels tot slaaptyd.

now can.AUX.MOD you.PL everybody together marshmallows roast and together talk until sleep.time

Now all of you can roast marshmallows and talk until bedtime.

VivA-KPO

The second person plural pronoun also has a shortened form jul. Although it is currently used predominantly as an attributive possessive pronoun in written language (Kirsten 2016:166), it is still occasionally used as subject (8a) and object (8b), sometimes also with postmodification (8c).

Maar weet jul hoekom gaan dit so?

but know you.PL why go it so

But do you know why it goes like this?

VivA-KPO

Maar ek wil jul vandag vertel van innerlike skoonheid.

but I want.to.AUX.MOD you.PL today tell about inner beauty

But today I want to tell you about inner beauty.

VivA-KPO

...en sien ons spesiale kersboodskap aan jul elkeen.

and see our special christmas.message to you.PL each.one

...and see our special Christmass message to each of you.

VivA-KPO

[+]Honorific second person pronouns and forms of address

Afrikaans has an honorific second person pronoun, u you.HON, which is unmarked for case or number. It can be used to refer to a specific person, the addressee (9a), or to a group of people (9b).

Dit beteken dat u minder vir dieselfde voordele-opsie betaal as iemand wat meer verdien.

it mean that.COMP you.HON less for the.same benefit-option pay as somebody that.REL more earn

It means that you pay less for the same benefit option as somebody that earns more.

VivA-KPO

Ons wil hê dat u mense van hoop moet wees.

we want.to.AUX.MOD have.INF that.COMP you.HON people of hope must be.INF

We want you to be people of hope.

VivA-KPO

Similar to the unmarked second person plural pronoun, the honorific u can also be postmodified, for instance with a numeral (10a) or an indefinite pronoun (10b and 10c).

Wie van u twee is die meeste my egte vader?

who.REL of you.HON two be.PRS the most my real father

Which of you two is my real father the most?

VivA-KPO

Lekker dag aan u almal!

nice day to you.HON everybody

Have a nice day, everyone!

VivA-KPO

Ten slotte wens ek u elkeen 'n wonderlike vakansie en 'n geseënde Kersfees toe.

at.the close wish I you.HON everyone a wonderful vacation and a blessed Christmas PREP.PTCL

Finally, I wish all of you a wonderful holiday and a merry Christmans.

VivA-KPO

The honorific u is, however, perceived to be very formal and slightly outdated, although it is still seen as polite (Bosman & Otto 2015:387). The respondents in Bosman and Otto's study report that they do not use u very often, which is corroborated by the data in Kirsten (2016:169). Young speakers may even prefer not to be addressed with the very formal u(Bosman & Otto 2015:384).

There is another approach to showing respect in forms of address in Afrikaans. One part of the approach is to not call older individuals by their first names. Unfamiliar people might be called mevrou ma'am (11a) or meneer mister (11b), or by their titles such as dokter doctor (11c), but familiar people are often called tannie auntie (11d) or antie auntie if they are women or oom uncle (11e) if they are men. The other part of the approach to respectful and polite forms of address is that instead of using the second person singular pronoun jou you.SG later in a sentence or utterance, the speaker would repeat the form of address, as in (11a, 11d and 11f). That would also include familial relations such as Ma Mom or Pappa Daddy. People would even use that to refer to themselves, as in (11g and 11h).

Maar Mevrou hoef nie bekommerd te wees nie, ons het Mevrou ingespuit.

but Ma'am need.AUX.MOD not worried PTCL.INF be.INF PTCL.NEG we have.AUX Ma'am inject.PST

But you don't have to worry, Ma'am, we injected you.

VivA-KPO, adapted

Lyk ek vir Meneer soos iemand wat 'n kind sal boelie?

look I for Mister like somebody that a child will bully

Do I look like someone who would bully a child, Sir?

VivA-KPO, adapted

Ja, Dokter, maar dan is my derms vreeslik lastig.

yes Doctor but then be.PRS my intestines very difficult

Yes, Doctor, but then my intestines are very difficult.

VivA-KPO

Lief vir Tannie baie en hoop om Tannie gou te sien.

love for Auntie much and hope for.COMP Auntie quick PTCL.INF see.INF

Love you lots, Auntie, and I hope to see you again soon.

VivA-KPO, adapted

Maar as Oom nie omgee nie, ek gaan 'n tweede opinie hieroor kry.

but if Uncle not mind PTCL.NEG I go a second opinion PN.about get

But if you don't mind, Uncle, I'm going to get a second opinion about this.

VivA-KPO

Liewe Pa – dankie dat Pa in 1924 vir my geboorte gewag het.

Dear Dad thanks that.COMP Dad in 1924 for my birth wait.PST have.AUX

Dear Dad – thanks that you waited for my birth in 1924.

VivA-KPO, adapted

Maar Antie wil regtig nie 'n riller-prentjie vir jou hier skets nie.

but Auntie want.to.AUX.MOD really not a horror-picture for you.SG here sketch PTCL.NEG

But I really don't want to sketch a horror picture for you here.

VivA-KPO

Moet Pappa jou boudjies kom afvee?

must.AUX.MOD Daddy your bum.DIM.PL come off.wipe

Should Daddy come wipe your bum?

VivA-KPO, adapted

References

Bosman, N. & Otto, A2015Moenie my 'jy' en 'jou' nie - die gebruik van u in die 21ste eeu.
Bosman, N. & Otto, A2015Moenie my 'jy' en 'jou' nie - die gebruik van u in die 21ste eeu.
Kirsten, J2016Grammatikale verandering in Afrikaans van 1911-2010.Thesis
Kirsten, J2016Grammatikale verandering in Afrikaans van 1911-2010.Thesis

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About this article

Author(s): Johanita Kirsten; Adri Breed

Category: Afrikaans Syntax

Keywords: second person pronounsecond person singular pronounsecond person plural pronounsecond person honorific pronoun

Version: 1.0, May 2020

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Johanita Kirsten; Adri Breed	May 2020

This is a beta version.

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