# Why do we say "you are" instead of "you is"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-say-you-are-instead-of-you-is/849298>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 11, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-say-you-are-instead-of-you-is/849298 "2020-03-11T20:27:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-say-you-are-instead-of-you-is/849298/41 "2020-03-23T14:08:52Z")

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I just discovered that Merriam-Webster has a good explanation of [url=How did _you_ become singular?

> [@](#):
>
> As far back as the 14th century, the plural forms ye and you began to be used to address one person—usually a superior—as a mark of deference and respect. This change could have been influenced by the first-person plural we (the royal “we”) used by sovereigns or reflected the impact of French politeness at work in Middle English.

> [@](#):
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> Initially, the distinction between singular you and plural you was signaled by verb agreement; you was for the singular continued in polite if informal use well into the 18th century before it lost respectability.

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-say-you-are-instead-of-you-is/849298/42 "2020-03-23T14:19:40Z")

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> [@Andy\_L](#):
>
> It’s complicated. English used to have a singular 2nd person (thou) and a plural 2nd person (you/ye). Thou became the singular used for intimates and inferiors; people used “you” on formal occasions to single persons (the “royal we” implied a royal “you”). The intimate form died out, leaving “you” to work as singular and plural - but it kept the original association with plural verb forms.

And the old intimate form was “thou art” - not so big a change then to switch to “you are”.

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