Ты and Вы: Formal and Informal You in Russian

Like many European languages, Russian has two words for "you".

The two forms

Pronoun	Use
ты (ty)	one person you know well, a child, a close friend or family
вы (vy)	one person you address formally, or more than one person

Writing Вы

In letters and emails to one person, the formal Вы is often capitalised as a mark of respect. In ordinary text, it is lowercase.

Verbs change too

The verb agrees with the pronoun:

• Ты говоришь по-русски? (ty govorish' po-russki?)
• Вы говорите по-русски? (vy govorite po-russki?)

Both mean "Do you speak Russian?".

When to use which

• Вы with strangers, older people, bosses, officials and shop staff.
• Ты with friends, family, children and, often, peers in informal groups.
• Вы whenever you speak to a group.

Switching

Moving from вы to ты is a step in a relationship, and usually the older or higher-status person suggests it. A phrase for this is Давайте на «ты» (davayte na ty), meaning "Let's use ты".

If you are unsure

Use вы. It is safer to be too polite than too casual. You may be invited to switch.

Possessives and cases

The formal вы also changes the possessive: ваш (vash), your, compared with твой (tvoy).

Tips

1. Start with вы.
2. Follow the other person's lead.
3. Use the dictionary to check forms of both pronouns.

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