Thread Academy

Formal or Friendly?

Master ты (ty — informal you) and вы (vy — formal you) and learn when each is appropriate.

  • Define and explain Formal or Friendly? in your own words
  • Use key terms such as ты (ty) — you (informal) accurately
  • Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
  • Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic

This lesson focuses on Formal or Friendly?: master ты (ty — informal you) and вы (vy — formal you) and learn when each is appropriate.

Definition: Formal or Friendly?

Master ты (ty — informal you) and вы (vy — formal you) and learn when each is appropriate.

Key ideas

Ты versus вы

Ты (ty) is for one person you know well; вы (vy) is for strangers, teachers and any group of people. Using ты with a stranger sounds rude, while вы with a best friend sounds cold. When in doubt in an exam, choose вы — politeness is never marked wrong.

Finding noun gender from endings

Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant — дом (dom — house), стол (stol — table) — or in -й, like музей (muzéy — museum). Feminine nouns end in -а or -я: книга (kníga — book), земля (zemlyá — land). Neuter nouns end in -о or -е: окно (oknó — window), море (móre — sea). Nouns in -ь can be either — словарь (slovár' — dictionary) is masculine but ночь (noch' — night) is feminine — so learn those together with the noun.

Key term — ты (ty) — you (informal): Used with friends, family and children. Its formal and plural partner is вы (vy).

Worked example: Formal or Friendly?

Do you use ты or вы with your teacher?

Вы (vy — formal you).

Answer: Вы (vy — formal you).

Common mistakes
  • Saying ты to a teacher Ты (ty) to a teacher sounds disrespectful. Use вы (vy): Вы учитель (vy uchítel' — you are the teacher).
  • Treating папа as feminine Папа (pápa — dad) ends in -а but is masculine because it names a man: мой папа (moy pápa — my dad), not моя папа. With people, meaning beats the ending.

Practice

What gender is книга?
Look at the final letter.

Feminine — it ends in -а: книга (kníga — book).

What gender is окно?
It ends in -о.

Neuter: окно (oknó — window).

Conjugate: он ___ (делать).
First conjugation, third person singular: -ет.

Он делает (on délayet — he does).

Conjugate: они ___ (говорить).
Second conjugation, third person plural: -ят.

Они говорят (oní govoryát — they speak).

Quick check

Formal or Friendly? — quick check

Which of these best defines "ты (ty) — you (informal)"?

Used with friends, family and children. Its formal and plural partner is вы (vy).

Put in order: по-русски / говорите / Вы / ?

Вы говорите по-русски? (vy govoríte po-rússki? — Do you speak Russian?).
Key takeaways
  • Formal or Friendly?: master ты (ty — informal you) and вы (vy — formal you) and learn when each is appropriate.
  • Ты versus вы: Ты (ty) is for one person you know well; вы (vy) is for strangers, teachers and any group of people.
  • вы (vy) — you (formal / plural): Used with strangers, adults and teachers, and for more than one person.
  • Watch out for: saying ты to a teacher
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