Personal pronouns

What you will practice

• Choose я, ты, or вы for the right relationship.
• Choose он, она, or они for gender and number.
• Use вы for one person you address formally.

Explanation

First and second person

я is the speaker. ты is one person you know well, a child, or a relative. мы is the speaker plus someone else. вы is more than one person, and it is also one person you do not yet address as ты. A job interview, a stranger, and a customer take вы. Switching to ты is a decision, not the default.

Third person

он replaces a masculine noun. она replaces a feminine noun. они replaces any plural. стол becomes он, книга becomes она, and папа becomes он because that noun is masculine. Do not choose она from the ending -а when the person is папа.

Formal вы

The formal question from the greetings lesson uses this pronoun: Как вас зовут? The informal one uses тебя. Those are not the dictionary forms, but they show why the choice matters. In the dictionary form, the practice contrast is ты against вы. Вы студент? can ask one person. The plural verb is the same shape, so the situation tells you whether it is one person or several.

Examples

1. яthe speaker
2. тыone informal person
3. онa masculine noun
4. онаa feminine noun
5. выformal or plural

Common mistakes

• вы can mean one person. It is not only a plural.
• папа is replaced by он, not by она.