du

See also: Appendix:Variations of "du"

Languages (77)

Abinomn • Achang • Äiwoo • Akan • Albanian • Alemannic German • Amanab • Ashkun • Bambara • Basque • Bavarian • Breton • Bukhari • Burushaski • Catalan • Cimbrian • Cornish • Danish • Dena'ina • Dutch • Elfdalian • Emilian • Esperanto • Fala • French • Gaikundi • German • Gothic • Gun • Hunsrik • Ido • Jamaican Creole • Japanese • Kalasha • Kamkata-viri • Lithuanian • Lower Sorbian • Luxembourgish • Mandarin • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle High German • Middle Low German • Mòcheno • Mokilese • Norman • Norn • North Frisian • Northern Kurdish • Northern Sami • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Nupe • Obokuitai • Old French • Old High German • Old Irish • Pennsylvania German • Pite Sami • Plautdietsch • Romagnol • Romanian • Salar • San Andres Creole English • Saterland Frisian • Scots • Sranan Tongo • Sumerian • Swedish • Tlingit • Tregami • Upper Sorbian • Venetan • Vietnamese • Welsh • White Hmong • Yoruba

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Page categories

Abinomn

Noun

du

1. name

Achang

Pronunciation

• (Myanmar) /du˧/
• (Lianghe) [to³¹]
• (Longchuan) [to³¹]
• (Luxi) [tua⁵¹]
• (Xiandao) [to³¹]

Verb

du

1. to crawl

Further reading

• Inglis, Douglas; Sampu, Nasaw; Jaseng, Wilai; Jana, Thocha (2005), A preliminary Ngochang–Kachin–English Lexicon‎^[4], Payap University, page 27

Äiwoo

Determiner

du

1. all

References

• Næss, Åshild (2017), “du”, in A short dictionary of Äiwoo (Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia; A-PL 35)‎^[5], Canberra, ACT: Asia-Pacific Linguistics, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, page 31
• Ross, Malcolm; Næss, Åshild (December 2007), “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics‎^[6], volume 46, number 2, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, →DOI, pages 456–98

Akan

Alternative forms

• edu

Numeral

du

1. (Twi) ten

Derived terms

• mfenhyia du (“decade”)
• mfeɛ du (“decade”)

Albanian

Verb

du

1. dialectal form of dua

Alemannic German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du/

Pronoun

du

1. thou, you

Declension

Alemannic German personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	possessive m
singular	1st person		ich, i	mich, mi	mir, mier, mer	min, miin
	2nd person	familiar	du	dich, di	dir, dier, der	din, diin
		polite	Si		Ine, Ene, -ne	Ire
	3rd person	m	er	in, en	im	sin, siin
		f	si		ire
		n	es, 's, -s		im	sin, siin
plural	1st person		mir, mer	üs, öis, ois, eus		üse, öise, oise, euse
	2nd person		ir, ier	öi, eu		öie, eure
	3rd person		si		ine, ene, -ne	ire

Amanab

Noun

du

1. a kind of bird

Ashkun

Ashkun cardinal numbers

<  1	2	3  >
Cardinal : du

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Numeral

du (Sanu)

1. two

Bambara

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [dúù]

Noun

du

1. household

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du/ [d̪u]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: du

Verb

du (masculine allocutive dik, feminine allocutive din)

1. third-person singular, with third-person singular direct object, present indicative of izan (“to have”, transitive auxiliary)

Bavarian

Etymology

Cognate with German du.

Pronoun

du

1. you (nominative, singular)

See also

Bavarian personal pronouns

		nominative		accusative		dative
		stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
1st person singular		i	—	mi	—	mia (mir)	ma
2nd person singular	informal	du	—	di	—	dia (dir)	da
	formal	Sie	—	Eahna	—	Eahna	—
3rd person singular	m	er	a	eahm	'n	eahm	'n
	n	es, des	's	des	's
	f	se, de	's	se	's	ihr	—
1st person plural		mia (mir)	ma	uns	—	uns	—
2nd person plural		eß, ihr	—	enk, eich	—	enk, eich	—
3rd person plural		se	's	eahna	—	eahna	—

Breton

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdyː/
• Rhymes: -yː
• Hyphenation: du

Etymology 1

From Proto-Brythonic *duβ, from Proto-Celtic *dubus. Cognates include Welsh du.

Adjective

du

1. black
2. dark, cloudy, gloomy
3. grumpy, sorrowful
4. poor, destitute, needy

Derived terms

verbs

• dua

See also

Colors in Breton · livioù (layout · text)

gwenn	louet	du
ruz	orañjez, melen-ruz; gell	melen
livn	gwer, glas	bent
cyan, turkvaen	glas-mor	glas
glas-ruz	magenta; limestra	roz

Mutation

Mutation of du

	unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
simple form	du	zu	never occurs	never occurs
comparative	duoc'h	zuoc'h	never occurs	never occurs
superlative	duañ	zuañ	unchanged	tuañ

Noun

du m

1. black

Mutation

Mutation of du

unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
du	zu	unchanged	tu

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Breton.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

du

1. third-person singular present indicative of duañ

Mutation

Mutation of du

unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
du	zu	unchanged	tu	tu

References

• Martial Menard, editor (2016–present), “du”, in Devri: Le dictionnaire diachronique du breton‎^[7] (in French), Rennes 2 University
• Cornillet, Gérard (2017), “du”, in Geriadur galleg brezhoneg, dictionnaire français breton‎^[8] (in French), page 390

Bukhari

Bukhari numbers ^(edit)

	20
[a], [b] ←  1	2	3  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: du, shinem     Ordinal: duyum

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH

Classical Persian دُو (dū)

Tajik ду (du)

Bukhari du

Inherited from Tajik ду (du).

Numeral

du (Cyrillic spelling ду)

1. two

References

• Kimyagarov, Amnun; Kimyagarova, Zoya (2010), Short English - Russian - Bukharian Jewish Dictionary, New York: International Academy for Development Technologies, →ISBN, page 47

Burushaski

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d̪u]

Noun

du (plural duwants)

1. yew

See also

• halkaas mamushi
• meenis

References

Sadaf Munshi (2015), “Word Lists”, in Burushaski Language Documentation Project‎^[9].

Catalan

Verb

du

1. inflection of dur:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Cimbrian

Etymology

From Middle High German du, from Old High German dū, from Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū. Cognate with German du, archaic English thou (modern dialectal tha).

Pronoun

du

1. (Luserna, Sette Comuni) you (thou, singular familiar)

   Bobrall du geast, gedenkhte ber du pist. ― Wherever you go, remember who you are.

Inflection

Sette Comuni:

Cimbrian personal pronouns

		nominative	accusative	dative
1st person singular		ich	mich	miar
2nd person singular	familiar	du	dich	diar
	polite	iart	ach	òich
3rd person singular	m	èar, ar	in, en	iime
	f	zi, ze		iar
	n	es, is	es, 's	iime
1st person plural		bar, bandare	zich	izàndarn
2nd person plural		iart, iartàndare, artàndare	òich, ach	ogàndarn
3rd person plural		ze, zòi, zandare	zich	innàndarn

Luserna:

Personal pronouns (Luserna)

	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	iar
3rd person	er, si, 'z	se

References

• “du” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974), Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Cornish

Etymology

From Old Cornish duw, from Proto-Brythonic *duβ, from Proto-Celtic *dubus, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-.

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [dyː]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [dɪˑʊ]

Adjective

du (comparative moy du)

1. black

   du:  

2. dark

Derived terms

• arth du Amerika (“American black bear”)
• arth du Asi (“Asian black bear”)
• bord du (“blackboard”)
• Du (“November”)
• duhe (“blacken”)
• dulas (“dark green”)
• durudh (“dark red”)
• glasdu (“navy, dark blue”)
• gwaneth du (“buckwheat”)
• hwil du (“cockroach”)
• korynt du (“blackcurrant”)
• lenn dhu (“blind (window)”)
• men du (“jet black”)
• molgh dhu (“blackbird”)
• mor du (“blackberries”)
• penn du (“tadpole”)
• pur dhu (“pitch black”)
• rol dhu (“blacklist”)
• sten du (“tin ore”)
• ys du (“buckwheat”)

See also

Colors in Cornish · liwyow (layout · text)

gwynn	loos, glas	du
rudh; kogh	rudhvelyn, melynrudh; gell, gorm	melyn; losvelyn
	gwyrdh, gwer, glas
glaswyrdh, glaswer; gwerlas	glaswyn, blou	glas
glasrudh, purpur; indigo	majenta; purpur, glasrudh	gwynnrudh, kigliw

Mutation

Mutation of du

radical	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
du	dhu	unchanged	tu	tu

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Danish thū, þū, from Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you”). Cognate with English thou, Latin tū, Sanskrit त्वम् (tvam), Avestan 𐬙𐬏𐬨 (tūm), Russian ты (ty).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈd̥u], [d̥u]

Pronoun

du (objective dig)

1. thou, you (2nd person singular subject pronoun, informal)

See also

Danish personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					common	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	mig	min	mit	mine
	Second	modern / informal	du	dig	din	dit	dine
		formal (uncommon)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	hende	hendes
		common (noun)	den		dens
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		indefinite	man	en	ens
		reflexive	–	sig	sin	sit	sine
Plural	First	modern	vi	os	vores
		archaic / formal			vor	vort	vore
	Second	–	I	jer	jeres
	Third	–	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	sig

Etymology 2

From Old Danish dughæ, from Old Norse duga, from Proto-Germanic *duganą (“to be useful”), cognate with Swedish duga, German taugen, Gothic 𐌳𐌿𐌲𐌰𐌽 (dugan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈd̥uːˀ]

Verb

du (imperative du, present dur or duer, past duede, past participle duet)

1. be good
2. be fit

Conjugation

Conjugation of du

active passive infinitive du — present duer or dur — past duede — imperative du — participle present - past (have / havde) duet gerund —

References

• “du” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “du” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Dena'ina

Particle

du

1. interrogative particle (placed at the end of the sentence to make a question)

Dutch

Alternative forms

• dou (obsolete, Holland)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch du, from Old Dutch thū, from Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dy/
• Hyphenation: du
• Rhymes: -y

Pronoun

du

1. (obsolete or dialectal) Second-person singular informal pronoun; thou
   • 1620, Jacob Cats, Velt-teycken, alle eerbare jonge lieden toegeeygent:

     Sy roept, du bist een slaef, in mijne dienst gebonden

     She calls, thou art a slave, bound to my service

   • 1625, Joost van den Vondel, Wiech-liedt:

     Soo leyt dyn memmetje dy in dyn wiechje te rust.

     So thy mama lays thee to rest in thy cradle.

Usage notes

• Du was already falling out of general use in early modern Dutch. It was still relatively common in the oblique cases, in vocatives or close to vocative appositions and when indicating contempt.
• The corresponding verbal ending was -st. The present form of zijn was bist, for hebben the present forms hebst and hest were in use. When the nominative directly followed the verb, contraction usually occurred: -stu; bistu, hebstu.

Declension

• Nominative: du, dou, douw
• Oblique: dij, dy
• Possessive: dijn, dyn

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognate with Swedish du.

Pronoun

du

1. you (singular), thou

Declension

		Singular			Plural
		Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Nominative	Object
1		ig	mig		wįð	uoss
2		du	dig		ið	ið
3	masc.	an	an	ånum, åm	dier	diem
	fem.	ą̊	ån, åna	enner, en
	neut.	eð	eð	dyö

Emilian

Emilian cardinal numbers

<  1	2	3  >
Cardinal : du

Etymology

Inherited from Latin duo, duae.

Pronunciation

• (Parma) IPA^(key): [du]

Numeral

du (feminine dò (when attributive) or dovv (when predicative)) (Parma)

1. two, 2

References

• https://flippingbooks.comune.parma.it/Libri/Capacchi_Dizionario%20vol.%201/files/assets/basic-html/index.html#160

Esperanto

Esperanto numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	2	3  →
Cardinal: du     Ordinal: dua     Adverbial: due     Multiplier: duobla, duopa     Fractional: duona, duono

Etymology

From Latin duo, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: du

Numeral

du

1. two (2)

Derived terms

• duo
• dupunkto (“colon”)

Further reading

• “du”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “du”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Fala

Alternative forms

• do (Mañegu)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Old Galician-Portuguese de

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.

Proto-Italic *olnos

Old Latin olle

Latin ille

Latin illum

Old Galician-Portuguese o

Old Galician-Portuguese do

Fala du

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese do. By surface analysis, de (“of”) + u (masculine singular definite article).

Contraction

du m sg (plural dus, feminine da, feminine plural das)

1. (Lagarteiru, Valverdeñu) of the

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web), 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 30

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French del. The expected modern form would be *deau or *deu, but it underwent stronger contraction, due to its unstressed use. Akin to Galician do, Portuguese do, Sicilian dû, Italian and Spanish del.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dy/

• Audio:

  (file)

• (Quebec) IPA^(key): [d͡zy], [d͡zʏ]

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Homophones: dû, due, dues, dus, dût

Contraction

du

1. contraction of de +‎ le, literally “of the”

   « Eussent » est la troisième personne du pluriel de l'imparfait du subjonctif de « avoir ».

   "Eussent" is the third-person plural imperfect subjunctive [form] of "avoir."

   • 1802, Charles Brillat, Pierre Bazaine, Métrologie française, page 249:

     Le bouge donne 9 [neuf] litres plus que le point qui correspond à celui du diamètre des fonds indiqué par la jauge […]

     The bulge gives 9 [nine] liters more than the point which corresponds to that of the diameter of the base indicated by the gauge […]

Usage notes

• Only used before nouns (or nominalized forms of other parts of speech, most often adjectives) that begin with consonants; before vowel-initial words, the form de l' is used, e.g., as seen above, de l'imparfait.

Derived terms

• du tout
• lever du soleil
• pas du tout

Related terms

• duquel

Article

du m sg (feminine singular de la, plural des)

1. Forms the partitive article.

   Il mange du pain. ― He eats bread. / He eats some bread.

Usage notes

• The partitive article is used with uncountable nouns instead of the indefinite article (which is only used with countable nouns). English and most other European languages do not use any article in such cases.
• Like the indefinite article, the partitive article becomes simple de with grammatical objects in negated sentences: Il ne mange pas de pain. (“He doesn't eat bread.”)
• After the actual preposition de (“of, from”), the partitive article is deleted. So one can never say *de du or *de de la.

Further reading

• “du”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Gaikundi

Noun

du

1. man

Further reading

• Gaikundi-Ontena Organised Phonology Data (2011)

German

Alternative forms

• Du

Etymology

From Middle High German du, duo, dū, from Old High German dū (akin to Old Saxon thū and English thou), itself from Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.

Pronunciation

• (stressed) IPA^(key): /duː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

• (unstressed, standard) IPA^(key): /du/
• (unstressed, colloquial) IPA^(key): /də/
• After the second person singular verb ending -st, the /d/ is generally lost when the pronoun is unstressed. Thus hast du is pronounced [ˈhast‿u] even in purposefully enunciated speech.
• In colloquial speech, chiefly of northern and central Germany, the /d/ can be lost after any preceding coronal. Thus wenn du may be pronounced [ˈvɛn‿u] or [ˈvɛn‿ə].

Pronoun

du

1. you (singular familiar), thou

Usage notes

• Du is the informal second person pronoun. In formal speech, the third person plural Sie (always capitalised) is used instead.
• A general rule of thumb is that du is used to address one's friends, relatives, and those under about 16 years of age. Du is always used to address children and non-human beings.
• Usage also depends on the setting: two unacquainted, middle-aged persons are likely to use du when they meet at social gatherings, but much less so when they happen on each other in the street. People under 30 often use du among each other, but they still use Sie when one of them is at work, e.g. in a shop (some cafés and most pubs are an exception).
• There is also a great deal of (often subtle) regional variation throughout the German-speaking world.

Declension

German personal pronouns

	singular					plural			sing. and pl.
	1st person	2nd person familiar1	3rd person			1st person	2nd person familiar1	3rd person	2nd person polite/formal
			m	f	n
nominative	ich	du -e2	er	sie -se2	es	wir	ihr	sie -se2	Sie Ihr3
genitive	meiner mein3	deiner dein3	seiner sein3	ihrer	seiner sein3	unser	euer	ihrer	Ihrer Euer3
dative	mir	dir	ihm	ihr	ihm	uns	euch	ihnen	Ihnen Euch3
accusative	mich	dich	ihn	sie -se2	es	uns	euch	sie -se2	Sie Euch3

¹These forms are sometimes capitalized, especially in letters.    ²enclitic, colloquial    ³archaic

Derived terms

• duzen
• Du n

Further reading

• “du” in Duden online
• “du”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[10] (in German)

Gothic

Romanization

du

1. romanization of 𐌳𐌿

Gun

Alternative forms

• ɖù (Benin)

Etymology

From Proto-Gbe *ɖu. Cognates include Fon ɖù, Saxwe Gbe ɖù, Aja (West Africa) ɖù, Ewe ɖu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɖù/

Verb

dù (Nigeria)

1. to eat
2. to bite

   Àgọ̀sú hò àvún dàhó dé bọ̀ àvún wá dù ví étọ̀n ― Agosu bought a certain big dog and the dog eventually bit his child

3. to win

Derived terms

• dù gbẹ́ (“to enjoy life”)
• dù gán (“to become a chief”)
• dù hwè (“to celebrate”)
• dù kwẹ́ (“to spend money”)
• dù nùgò (“to boast”)
• dù nú (“to eat something”)
• dù wìyán (“to be ashamed”)
• dù yà (“to suffer”)
• dù àdì (“to be angry”)
• dù àxọ́ (“to go bankrupt/have debt”)
• núdùdù (“food”)
• vòdùtọ́ (“candidate”)

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• tuu (Wiesemann spelling)

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German dū (akin to Old Saxon thū and English thou).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuː/, /tə/

Pronoun

du

1. thou, you

   Du bist aarich scheen.

   You are so beautiful.

Inflection

Hunsrik personal pronouns

			nominative		accusative		dative
			proclitic	enclitic	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
singular	1st person		ich eich	-ich	mich meich		meer	mer m'r
	2nd person (informal)		du dau/Dau	-du, -de -Dau, -De	dich deich/Deich		deer	der d'r/D'r
	3rd person	m	er; där	-er	ihn	en	ihm	em
		f	sie; die	-se	sie / ihns	se	eer ehr	re
		n	es; das et, 't	's	es et	-et, -'t	ihm	em
plural	1st person		meer	mer	uns uhs
	2nd person		deer Ehr, Dehr	der	eich Auch
	3rd person		sie; die	-se	sie	se	denne

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Ido

Ido numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	2	3  →
Cardinal: du     Ordinal: duesma     Adverbial: dufoye     Multiplier: duopla     Fractional: duima

Etymology

From Esperanto du, from French deux, Spanish dos, Italian due, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Numeral

du

1. two (2)

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English do.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du/

Verb

du

1. to do

   Shi aks im fi du sitn fi ar.

   She asked him to do something for her.

   Singin muotaim du ina gruup a ada myuuzishan

   Singing is often done in a group of other musicians

   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Filipiyan 4:13:

     Mi kyan du eniting, kaaz Krais Jiizas gi mi di powa fi du it.

     I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength [to do it].

Further reading

• du at majstro.com

Japanese

Romanization

du

1. The katakana syllable ドゥ (du) in Hepburn romanization.

Kalasha

Etymology

From Sanskrit द्व (dva), from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁. Compare Hindi दो (do), Bhojpuri दू (dū), Konkani दोन (don).

Numeral

du

1. two (2)

Kamkata-viri

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *dwara, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dʰwā́r, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwṓr.

Noun

du m (Western, Northeastern, Southeastern)

1. door

Lithuanian

Lithuanian numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	2	3  →
Cardinal: dù     Ordinal: añtras     Collective: dvẽjetas

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *d(u)u̯ō, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁. Compare Latvian divi. Cognate to Latin duo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdʊ]
• Rhymes: -ʊ
• Syllabification: dù

Numeral

dù m (feminine dvi̇̀)

1. two (2)

Declension

Declension of du

	masculine	feminine
nominative	dù	dvi̇̀
genitive	dviejų̃	dviejų̃
dative	dvi̇́em	dvi̇́em
accusative	dù	dvi̇̀
instrumental	dviẽm	dviẽm
locative	dviejuosè	dviejosè

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *jьdǫ (first-person singular) and *jьdǫtь (third-person plural), inflected forms of *jьti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du/

Verb

du

1. inflection of hyś:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. third-person plural present

Synonyms

• (first-person singular): źom

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þū.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du/, [du(ː)]

Pronoun

du

1. second-person singular, informal, nominative: you, thou

   Wéi al bass du? ― How old are you?

Declension

Luxembourgish personal pronouns

				nominative		accusative		dative		reflexive
				stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
singular	1st person			ech	—	mech	—	mir	mer	like dat. and acc.
	2nd person	informal		du	de	dech	—	dir	der	like dat. and acc.
		formal		Dir	Der	Iech	Iech [əɕ]	Iech	Iech [əɕ]	Iech
	3rd person		m	hien	en	hien	en	him	em	sech
			f	si	se	si	se	hir	er	sech
			n	hatt	et ('t)	hatt	et ('t)	him	em	sech
plural	1st person			mir	mer	eis (ons)	—	eis (ons)	—	eis (ons)
	2nd person			dir	der	iech	iech [əɕ]	iech	iech [əɕ]	iech
	3rd person			si	se	si	se	hinnen	en	sech

Mandarin

Romanization

du

1. nonstandard spelling of dū
2. nonstandard spelling of dú
3. nonstandard spelling of dǔ
4. nonstandard spelling of dù

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch thū, from Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dyː/, /dy/
• (Limburg) IPA^(key): /duː/, /du/

Pronoun

du

1. thou, you (singular, informal)

   Synonym: gi

Usage notes

This pronoun began to be replaced by gi in formal address during the Middle Dutch period, and eventually fell out of use altogether.

Inflection

Middle Dutch personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ic	mi		mijn
	2nd person		du	di		dijn
	3rd person	m	hi	hem, hen		sijn
		f	si	haer		haer
		n	het		hem, hen	sijn
plural	1st person		wi	ons		onse
	2nd person		gi	u		uwe
	3rd person		si	hem, hen		haer

Descendants

• Dutch: (obsolete) du, dou, douw
• Limburgish: doe

Further reading

• “du”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “du”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English

Adjective

du

1. alternative form of dewe (“due”)

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German dū, from Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū, whence also Old English þū, Old Norse þú, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈdu/, /ˈduː/

Pronoun

du or dû

1. (personal) you (thou, singular familiar)

Inflection

Middle High German personal pronouns

			nominative	genitive	dative	accusative
singular	first person		ich	mīn	mir	mich
	second person		du, dū	dīn	dir	dich
	third person	m	ër CG hë(r)	sīn	im(e)	in
		f	siu	ir(e)	ir(e)	sie
		n	ëȥ CG iȥ, it	es	im(e)	ëȥ CG iȥ, it
plural	first person		wir	unser	uns	uns, unsich
	second person		ir	iuwer	iu, iuch	iuch
	third person	m	sie	ir(e)	in	sie
		f
		n	siu			siu

The distinction of the forms siu and sie as shown above is typical of earlier Upper German texts, but was never general. The forms sī and si existed additionally and all four were increasingly used without differentiation.

Descendants

• Alemannic German: du

  Swabian: dau, d

• Bavarian:

  Cimbrian: du

  Mòcheno: du

• Central Franconian: du, dou

  Hunsrik: du

  Kölsch: do

• German: du
• Luxembourgish: du
• Rhine Franconian:

  Palatine German: du

  Pennsylvania German: du

• Yiddish: דו (du)

Middle Low German

Etymology

From Old Saxon thū, from Proto-Germanic *þū.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /duː/

Pronoun

dû

1. thou, you (second person singular nominative)

Declension

Middle Low German personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ik (ek)	mî (mê, mik, mek)		mîn (mîner)
	2nd person		dû	dî (dê, dik, dek)		dîn (dîner)
	3rd person	m	hê (hî, hie)	ēne, en (ȫne, ȫn)	ēme, em (ȫme, en)	sîn (sîner)
		n	it (et)
		f	sê (sî, sie, sü̂)		ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)
plural	1st person		wî (wê, wie)	uns (ûs, ös, ü̂sik)		unser (ûser)
	2nd person		gî (jê, î)	jû (jûwe, û, jük, gik)		jûwer (ûwer)
	3rd person		sê (sî, sie)		em, öm, jüm (en, ēnen, ȫnen)	ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)

For an explanation of the forms in brackets see here.

Descendants

• du

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German du, from Old High German dū, from Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū. Cognate with German du, archaic English thou (modern dialectal tha).

Pronoun

du

1. you (thou, singular familiar)

Inflection

Personal pronouns

	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	ir
3rd person	er, si, s	sei

References

• “du” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Mokilese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdu/

Verb

du

1. (intransitive) to sink

Derived terms

• kadu

References

• Harrison, Sheldon P.; Albert, Salich Y. (1977), Mokilese-English Dictionary‎^[11], Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii, →ISBN, page 61

Norman

Etymology

From Latin dux, ducem.

Noun

du m

1. duke

Related terms

• duchie

Norn

Etymology

From Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʊː/

Pronoun

du (accusative dog, dative de, genitive din)

1. you, thou (second person, singular)

Declension

Norn personal pronouns

singular	first person	second person	reflexive	third person
				masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	eg	du	—	hann	hon	de
accusative	mog	dog	*sog	hann	—	de
dative	me	*de	*se	honon	henne	—
genitive	min	*din	*sin	hans	hennar	desa
plural	first person	second person	reflexive	third person
				masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	vi	dor	—	—	—	—
accusative	vus, wus	dor	*sog	—	—	—
dative	vus, wus	dor	*se	—	—	—
genitive	vor	dora	*sin	—	—	—

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• düünj (Mooring)
• dö (Sylt)

Etymology

From Old Frisian dwā, from Proto-Germanic *dōną. Cognates include West Frisian dwaan, English do.

Verb

du

1. (Föhr-Amrum) to do
2. (Föhr-Amrum) to give

Conjugation

Conjugation of du (Föhr-Amrum dialect)

infinitive I	du
infinitive II	(tu) dun
past participle	den
imperative singular	du
imperative plural	du’m
	present	past
1st singular	du	ded, diad
2nd singular	deest	dedst, diadst
3rd singular	dee	ded, diad
plural	du	ded, diad
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	haa den	hed den
2nd singular	heest den	hedst den
3rd singular	hee den	hed den
plural	haa den	hed den
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skal du	wal du
2nd singular	skääl du	wääl du
3rd singular	skal du	wal du
plural	skel du	wel du

Northern Kurdish

Northern Kurdish cardinal numbers

<  1	2	3  >
Cardinal : du

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *dwáH (compare Persian دو (do), Pashto دوه (dwa), Avestan 𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬀 (duua)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH (compare Sanskrit द्व (dvá), Marathi दोन (don), Hindi दो (do)/Urdu دو (do), Punjabi ਦੋ (do)), from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (compare Russian два (dva), Lithuanian du, Greek δύο (dýo), Spanish dos, English two).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʊ/
• Hyphenation: du
• Rhymes: -ʊ

Numeral

Central Kurdish	دوو (dû)

du

1. two (2)

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈtuː/

Pronoun

dū

1. accusative/genitive of don

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʉː/, [dʉː]
• (unstressed pronoun) IPA^(key): /dʉ/, [dʉ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʉː
• Hyphenation: du

Etymology 1

PIE word
*túh₂

Inherited from Middle Norwegian thu, from Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you; second-person singular pronoun”). The interjection developed from emphatic uses of the pronoun.

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk du, Danish du, Swedish du, Icelandic þú, Faroese tú, German du, Latin tū and English thou.

Pronoun

du (objective deg, possessive din or di or ditt or dine, plural dere)

1. you; the second-person singular personal pronoun, referring to the person being addressed, as a subject or in direct address.

   Du kan sitte her. ― You can sit here.

   • 1872, Henrik Ibsen, Kongs-Emnerne, page 136:

     du store himmelens Gud, der er altså ingen sikker lov deroppe, som alt skal gå efter?

     You great God of heaven, is there then no certain law up there that everything must follow?

   • 1879, Henrik Ibsen, Et dukkehjem, page 24:

     fire tusend otte hundrede kroner. Det er mange penge du

     Four thousand eight hundred kroner. That is a lot of money, you know.

   • 1879, Henrik Ibsen, Et dukkehjem, page 117:

     Nora, Nora, du er jo rent som fra dig selv!

     Nora, Nora, you are quite beside yourself!

   • 1883, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, En hanske, page 15:

     du, jeg finner ham uroligere æn nogensinne

     You know, I find him more restless than ever.

   • 1883, Jonas Lie, Familjen paa Gilje, page 190:

     du skal bli gammel hos mig du, forstaar du, Ungsvarten!

     You shall grow old with me, do you understand, Ungsvarten!

   • 1884, Henrik Ibsen, Vildanden, page 58:

     du tar dig godt ud i kjole, far!

     You look good in a tailcoat, Father!

   • 1888, Henrik Ibsen, Fruen fra havet, page 219:

     ikke sandt, du kære!

     Isn't that so, my dear!

   • 1917, Knut Hamsun, Markens Grøde, volume II, page 52:

     jeg vilde være til hjælp hvis det trængtes. Og just saa var det du, Aksel!

     I wanted to help if help was needed. And that was just how it was, Aksel!

   • 1918, Gunnar Heiberg, Samlede dramatiske verker, volume II, page 134:

     du Per! Igaar var det tre skjærer som sat paa gjærdet

     Hey, Per! Yesterday there were three magpies sitting on the fence.

   • 1926, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Samlede digte, volume I, page 83:

     og du, Sankt Olav! o, for din søns skyld! giv du ham gagnord i Gimles sale!

     And you, Saint Olaf! Oh, for your son's sake! Put in a good word for him in Gimle's halls!

   • 2008, Unni Lindell, Mørkemannen:

     hent henne gjerne ut igjen, hvis du tør

     Go ahead and get her out again, if you dare.

   • 2008, Atle Sperre Hermansen, Vikariatet:

     […] hvem tror du at du er, egentlig

     […] who do you think you are, really?

   1. (poetic) you; addressing something personified.

      Du gamle eik, hva har du ikke sett? ― You old oak, what sights you must have seen!

      • 1852, Henrik Wergeland, Henrik Wergelands Samlede Skrifter, volume I, page 281:

        af blod du, banner, har din let

        Your colour comes from blood, O banner.

      • 1852, Henrik Wergeland, Henrik Wergelands Samlede Skrifter, volume I, page 357:

        visn hen, visn hen, du sidste eeg paa Agershuus

        Wither away, wither away, you last oak at Akershus.

      • 1874, Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt, 3rd edition, page 91:

        Peer Gynt (hugger på en stor furu med krogede grene). Å-ja, du er seig, du gamle kall

        Peer Gynt (chopping at a large pine with crooked branches). Oh yes, you're tough, you old fellow.

      • 1874, Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt, 3rd edition, page 257:

        du dejlige jord, vær ikke vred, at jeg tramped dit græs til ingen nytte

        You beautiful earth, do not be angry that I trampled your grass to no purpose.

      • 1919, Nils Collett Vogt, Digte i utvalg, page 113:

        september, du, min maaned, saa er du atter der!

        September, you, my month, here you are again!

   2. you; addressing an absent person, especially in a tribute or memorial.

      Kjære Anna, du vil alltid være i våre hjerter. ― Dear Anna, you will always be in our hearts.

      • 1926, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Samlede digte, volume I, page 164:

        lyt nu, du ludende sanger

        Listen now, you stooping poet.

   3. you; familiar address contrasted with the polite form De.

      Kan vi si du til hverandre? ― Can we address each other as du?

      drikke du (obsolete) — to drink a toast agreeing to address one another as du.

      De hadde drukket du kvelden før. ― They had agreed over a drink the previous evening to address each other as du.

      • 1890, Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler, page 120:

        blir De ved at sige du til mig, så vil jeg ikke tale med Dem

        If you keep addressing me as du, I shall not speak to you.

      • 1917, Ivar Aasen, Reise-Erindringer og Reise-Indberetninger 1842–1847, page 18:

        man har [i Sogn] vidtløftige høflighedsregler, hvoriblandt den, at børn ikke maa sige «du» til sine forældre, men tiltale dem i fleertal

        There are elaborate rules of politeness [in Sogn], including that children must not address their parents as du, but must use a plural form of address.

      • 1917, Halfdan Kjerulf, Halfdan Kjerulf: av hans efterlatte papirer, volumes I: 1831–1847, page 254:

        [Hans] Gudes forslag om at skrive «Du» modtager jeg med den oprigtigste glæde. Også jeg generes ved at sige De til en saadan ven

        I welcome [Hans] Gude's proposal to write Du with the sincerest joy. I too feel awkward addressing such a friend as De.

      • 1848, Conrad N. Schwach, Erindringer af mit Liv indtil Ankomsten til Throndhjem (1830): nedskrevne i Aaret 1848, volume I, published 1977, page 84:

        da vi vare blevne uvenner, bleve vi enige om ikke mere sige du men I til hinanden

        When we had fallen out, we agreed no longer to address each other as du, but as I.

2. you; addressing any individual reader or listener.

   På neste side finner du flere eksempler. ― You will find more examples on the next page.

   • 1926, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Samlede digte, volume I, page 88:

     vær glad, naar faren vejer hver evne, som du ejer

     Be glad when danger puts every ability you possess to the test.

3. (indefinite) you, one; any person in the circumstances described.

   Når du er trøtt, gjør du lettere feil. ― When you are tired, you make mistakes more easily.

   Synonyms: en, man

   • 1904, Jacob B. Bull, Folkelivsbilleder, volume II, page 356:

     paa venstre haand, øverst i lien, naar du reiser opover, ligger en hvidmalet bygning

     On the left, at the top of the hillside as you travel uphill, stands a white-painted building.

   • 1926, Hans E. Kinck, Foraaret i Mikropolis, page 84:

     hun [svinger] sig rundt lynende snøgt – det var som du sveiver drillepinden i tør ved, naar du lager ild

     She [spins] round lightning-fast—it was like spinning a drill stick in dry wood when making a fire.

   • 1997, Odd Børretzen, Noen ganger er det all right og andre tekster, page 90:

     en dag oppdager du at du er gammel

     One day you discover that you are old.

   1. you; in a general command or prohibition.

      Du skal behandle andre med respekt. ― You must treat others with respect.

      • traditional, “5. Mosebok [Deuteronomy]”, in Bibelen [The Bible]‎^[12], 1978/85 translation edition, 5:19:

        Du skal ikke stjele.

        You shall not steal.

4. Used in fixed exclamations, often translated as oh, good heavens or similar.

   Du verden, så mye snø det har kommet! ― Good heavens, what a lot of snow has fallen!

   du store min! — good heavens; goodness me.

   du gode gud! — good God.

   du store allstyrendes! — good heavens.

   • 1888, Henrik Ibsen, Fruen fra havet, page 137:

     er jeg egenkærlig? Nå, du store gud –!

     Am I selfish? Well, good heavens—!

   • 1890, Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler, page 202:

     brændt! Men du godeste gud –!

     Burnt! But good gracious—!

5. (rare, derogatory) you; preceding an insulting noun.

   Du dåre! ― You fool!

   • 1873, Henrik Ibsen, Kejser og Galilæer, page 14:

     en donatist! Du ådsel; du rådne træ!

     A Donatist! You carrion; you rotten tree!

Usage notes

• Du is the ordinary singular form of address in contemporary Norwegian, including most formal and official contexts. The polite forms De, Dem and Deres are now much less common.
• Normally written with a lowercase initial except at the beginning of a sentence. Capitalized Du occurs in older correspondence, religious writing and philosophical usage.
• The object form is deg, also used reflexively. The possessive forms din, di, ditt and dine agree with the thing possessed.
• Both det er du and det er deg (“it is you”) are accepted. Subject and object forms also alternate after comparisons such as enn and som. In cleft sentences, the form normally follows its grammatical role: det var du som ringte (“it was you who called”), but det var deg jeg ringte til (“it was you I called”).

Derived terms

• due (“to address someone as du”)
• du-form (“the familiar singular form of address”)
• dus (“on familiar terms”)

See also

Norwegian Bokmål personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	meg	min	mi	mitt	mine
	Second	general	du	deg	din	di	ditt	dine
		formal (rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham / han	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	henne	hennes
		masculine (noun)	den		dens
		feminine (noun)
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		reflexive	–	seg	sin	si	sitt	sine
Plural	First	–	vi	oss	vår		vårt	våre
	Second	general	dere		deres
		formal (very rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	general	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	seg	sin	si	sitt	sine

Interjection

du

1. oh, my, goodness; expressing surprise, delight or relief.

   Du, for en flott utsikt! ― Oh, what a wonderful view!

   du og du!, du, å du! — my goodness; oh my.

   Du og du, så fort tiden går! ― My goodness, how quickly time passes!

   • 1916, Dikken Zwilgmeyer, Inger-Johanne-bøkerne og andre fortællinger for gutter og piker, volume III, page 67:

     du, aa du, det var likesom perler av dugg bortover græsset

     Oh, my goodness, it was like pearls of dew scattered over the grass.

   • 1916, Dikken Zwilgmeyer, Inger-Johanne-bøkerne og andre fortællinger for gutter og piker, volume V, page 3:

     gid, alle de lys – det var likesom stjerner var nede paa jorden. Du, aa du, hvor de skinte!

     Oh, all those lights—it was as though stars had come down to earth. Oh, my goodness, how they shone!

   • 1918, Margrethe Munthe, “Akevise”, in Kom skal vi synge: komplett utgave I–III, published 1946, page 76:

     å du, når jeg tenker på all den moro vi skal få!

     Oh, when I think of all the fun we are going to have!

   • 1979, Gerd Brantenberg, Sangen om St. Croix, page 10:

     du og du, hun virker da vilter

     My goodness, she certainly seems lively.

   • 1997, Pål Gerhard Olsen, Manndomsprøven:

     å du og du så stolt han ville vært

     Oh, my goodness, how proud he would have been.

Etymology 2

Neuter nominalization of du (“you”, pronoun).

Compare the parallel nominalization German Du (“the familiar form of address du”).

Noun

du n (definite singular duet, indefinite plural duer, definite plural dua or duene)

1. (literary) you; the familiar form of address du.

   Han oppfattet duet som et tegn på fortrolighet. ― He took the use of familiar “you” as a sign of intimacy.

   • 1943, Jakob Friis, editor, Sokneprest S. H. Friis’ opptegnelser og brev og professor J. A. Friis’ dagbok, page 122:

     duet […] vil oppløse sig i et De igjen

     The familiar “you” […] will dissolve into a formal “you” again.

2. (literary, philosophy) you; a person or being addressed or encountered by an I or self.

   Et jeg trenger et du å forholde seg til. ― An I needs a you to relate to.

   • 1983, Aftenposten‎^[13], number 25, page 7:

     […] til det guddommelige Du det er et speilbilde av

     […] to the divine You of which it is a reflection

     (quoted in NAOB)
   • 2010 June 24, NRK‎^[14]:

     forfatteren […] snakker direkte til et du […]

     The author […] speaks directly to a you […].

     (quoted in NAOB)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

du

1. imperative of due (“to address someone as du”)

References

• “du” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “du” in Norwegian Academy Dictionary (NAOB).

Anagrams

• UD

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Norwegian thu, from Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Akin to English thou.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʉː/

Pronoun

du (objective case deg)

1. you, thou (second person, singular)

References

• “du” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

See also

Norwegian Nynorsk personal pronouns

		first person	second person	reflexive	third person
					masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	nominative	eg, je1	du	—	han	ho	det, dat2
	accusative	meg	deg	seg	han, honom1	ho, henne	det, dat2
	dative2	meg	deg	seg	honom1	henne	di2
	genitive	min	din	sin	hans	hennar, hennes1	dess3
plural	nominative	me, vi, mid2	de, dokker, did2	—	dei
	accusative	oss, okker2	dykk, dokker, øder2	seg	dei, deim2
	dative2	oss, okker2	dykk, dokker, øder2	seg	deim2
	genitive	vår, okkar2	dykkar, dokkar, ødar2	sin	deira, deires1

¹Obsolete. ²Landsmål. ³Rare or literary. Italic forms unofficial today.

Nupe

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dū/

Verb

du

1. to boil

   Musa dàdà á nakàn du ― Musa quickly boiled the meat

2. to brew

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dù/

Verb

dù

1. (of rain) to fall

   Ele è dù à ― It's not raining (literally, “Rain is not falling”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dū/

Verb

du

1. to shake

Obokuitai

Noun

du

1. bird

References

• Bill Palmer, editor (2018), The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area, Berlin: de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 531

Old French

Alternative forms

• del

Contraction

du

1. contraction of de + le (of the)

Old High German

A drawing of the inscription on the Bülach fibula

Alternative forms

• thū, ᛞᚢ (du)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū, whence also Old English þū, Old Norse þú, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Perhaps the earliest attestation of the pronoun is the inscription on the Bülach fibula, which may show ᛞᚢ (du) already differentiated from other Germanic languages’ þu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /duː/

Pronoun

dū

1. thou, you (second-person singular pronoun)
   • c. late 500s – early 600s, Inscription on the Bülach Fibula:

     ᚠᚱᛁᚠᚱᛁᛞᛁᛚ / ᛞᚢ / […]

     frifridil / du / […]

     [my] beloved / you / […]

Usage notes

Some speakers of Old High German appear to have contrasted the "polite" singular (plural forms) with the regular, informal singular (singular forms), as in New High German (Modern German) Sie versus du. This distinction is however not well-attested, and may have been regional, genre-dependent, or only in Late Old High German.

Inflection

Old High German personal pronouns

			nominative	genitive	dative	accusative
singular	first person		ih (ihha, ihcha)	mīn	mir	mih
	second person		dū	dīn	dir	dih
	third person	m	er (her)	(sīn)	imu, imo	inan, in
		f	siu; sī, si	ira (iru, iro)	iru, iro	sia
		n	iz	es, is	imu, imo	iz
plural	first person		wir	unsēr	uns	unsih
	second person1		ir	iuwēr	iu	iuwih
	third person	n	sie	iro	im, in	sie
		f	sio	sio
		n	siu	siu

¹ Also polite singular form

Descendants

• Middle High German: du
  • Alemannic German: du

    Swabian: dau, d

  • Bavarian:

    Cimbrian: du

    Mòcheno: du

  • Central Franconian: du, dou

    Hunsrik: du

    Kölsch: do

  • German: du
  • Luxembourgish: du
  • Rhine Franconian:

    Palatine German: du

    Pennsylvania German: du

  • Yiddish: דו (du)

References

• Heinz Klingenberg, Runenfibel von Bülach, Kanton Zürich. Liebesinschrift aus alemannischer Frühzeit, in the Alemannisches Jahrbuch (1973/75), page 308
• Heinz Klingenberg, Die Runeninschrift aus Bülach, in Helvetia archaeologica, volume 7 (1976), pages 116–121
• Stephan Opitz, Südgermanische Runeninschriften im älteren Futhark aus der Merowingerzeit (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1977)

Old Irish

Preposition

du [with dative]

1. alternative form of do

Mutation

Mutation of du

radical	lenition	nasalization
du	du pronounced with /ð-/	ndu

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German du, English thou, Swedish du.

Pronoun

du

1. you, thou

Declension

Pennsylvania German personal pronouns

Number	singular						plural
Person/ Gender	1st	2nd person		3rd person			1st	2nd	3rd
		familiar	polite/formal	m	f	n
nominative	ich	du de1	dihr der1 Sie	er	sie se1	es	mir mer1	dihr der1	sie
dative	mir mer1	dir der1	eich Ihne Ne1	ihm em1	ihre re1	ihm em1	uns	eich	ihne ne1
accusative	mich	dich	eich Sie	ihn en1	sie se1	es			sie

¹ unstressed

Pite Sami

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tu/

Pronoun

du

1. those

See also

Pite Sami demonstrative pronouns

	singular	plural
proximal	dát	dá
distal	dat	da
remote	dut	du

References

• Joshua Wilbur (2014), A grammar of Pite Saami, Berlin: Language Science Press

Plautdietsch

Pronoun

du (oblique die)

1. you (singular)

Romagnol

Romagnol numbers ^(edit)

	20
[a], [b] ←  1	2	3  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: du     Ordinal: șgónd     Multiplier: dópi     Fractional: mëẓ

Etymology

From Latin dŭo (“two”).

Pronunciation

• (Central Romagnol) IPA^(key): [ˈduː]
  • (Ville Unite):

Numeral

du (feminine dó)

1. two

References

• Masotti, Adelmo (1996), Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano [Romagnol-Italian dictionary] (in Italian), Bologna: Zanichelli, pages 189, 194

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [du]

Verb

du

1. second-person singular imperative of duce

   Du-te acasă.

   Go home.

Salar

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 毒.

Pronunciation

• (Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): /tu/

Noun

du

1. poison

   Synonym: ağu

   Antonym: em

   Du vurci.

   Have been poisoned.

References

• 林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1992), “du”, in 撒拉汉汉撒拉词汇 [Salar-Chinese, Chinese-Salar Vocabulary], 成都 [Chéngdū]: 四川民族出版社, →ISBN, page 137

San Andres Creole English

Verb

du

1. do

References

• Angela Bartens, San Andres-Providence Creole English in The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages volume 1 (2013, edited by Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath, Magnus Huber)

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian thū, from Proto-West Germanic *þū.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du/
• Hyphenation: du
• Rhymes: -u

Pronoun

du (oblique die)

1. thou, you

Usage notes

• du is at times omitted when used with a verb.

See also

Saterland Frisian personal pronouns

			subject case		object case
			stressed	unstressed
singular	1st		iek		mie
	2nd		du		die
	3rd	m	hie	er	him
		f	ju	ze	hier
		n	dät	et	dät
plural	1st		wie		uus
	2nd		jie		jou
	3rd		jo	ze	hier

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015), “du”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Scots

Pronoun

du (objective case dee, vocative dee, possessive determiner dines)

1. Insular Scots form of thou (“thou”)

Further reading

“du”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Sranan Tongo

Etymology 1

From English do.

Verb

du

1. to do

Noun

du

1. deed, action

Etymology 2

Probably from Ewe ɖú (“dance”), Fon ɖùwè (“dance”), from Proto-Gbe *ɖú (-we).

Noun

du

1. (historical) a festival of song and dance organised and performed by and for enslaved people

Descendants

• → Dutch: doe

Sumerian

Romanization

du

1. romanization of 𒁺 (du)

Swedish

Alternative forms

• dhu, thu, tu, tv (obsolete)

Dialectal forms

• do (Kalix)
• do (Luleå)
• dö (Piteå)

Etymology

From Old Swedish þū, from Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognate with English thou, German du.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʉː/, [d̪ʉː], (unstressed) /dɵ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʉː

Pronoun

du

1. you (singular subjective case)

   Nisse, du är en liten groda

   Nisse, you are a small frog

   Du är här, så jag ser dig

   You [subject] are here, so I see you [object]

   • 1981, X Models, “Två av oss [Two of us]”‎^[15]:

     Det finns bara en av mig och det är jag. Det finns bara en av dig och det är du. Det finns bara två av oss, och det är vi.

     There is only one of me and that is I. There is only one of you [object] and that is you [subject]. There are only two of us, and that is us [we – subject]. [Swedish has some of the same subject/object fuzziness as English, but a standalone "Det är <pronoun>" idiomatically (through intuition rather than being taught) uses the subject form]

   1. thou (if fitting for the context)
      • 1649, Jacobus Petri Chronander, Bele-Snack, Eller Een Ny Comœdia, act I, scene IV, page 40:

        TV Konstrijke Mästare, godt rådh giff,
        Skall man nu skona thenna skelmens lijff?

        THOU artful Master, good counsel give,
        Should one now spare this scoundrel's life?

3. Used as a vocative (to get someone's attention, or for emphasis or the like); hey
   • 1984, “Vargsången [The wolf song]”, Astrid Lindgren (lyrics), Björn Isfält (music)‎^[16]performed by Lena Nyman:

     Vargen ylar i nattens skog. Han vill men kan inte sova. Hungern river hans vargabuk, och det är kallt i hans stova. Du varg, du varg, kom inte hit. Ungen min får du aldrig.

     The wolf howls in the forest of the night. He wants to sleep but cannot. ["He wants to but cannot sleep" – "He wants to X" is "Han vill X"] [The] hunger tears his wolf belly, and it is cold in his stove [archaic, dialectal, in the dated English sense]. Hey wolf, hey wolf, do not come [to] here [hither]. My child you will never have.

   • 1994, Uno Svenningsson, “Tro på varann [Believe in Each Other]”, in Uno‎^[17], performed by Uno Svenningsson and Eva Dahlgren:

     Du, jag vill att vi tror på varann.

     Hey, I want us to believe in each other.

   Du Nisse, har du matat katten?

   Hey Nisse, have you fed the cat?

   Du, skulle du kunna räcka mig skeden, är du snäll?

   Hey, could you hand me the spoon, please?

   Jo du, jag kom precis på en till grej vi måste göra

   Oh, by the way [roughly – literally, "yeah you," or "listen you" or the like – see jo], I just remembered another thing we need to do

   Du, du ska ge fan i min hamster

   Hey, [you shall] stay away from my hamster [with an aggressive and somewhat threatening tone]

   – Varför gör han det inte bara? – Ja du, vem vet? / Ja du, det är en bra fråga.

   – Why doesn't he just do it? – Yeah, who knows? / Yeah, that's a good question. [with the du acknowledging the question, adding a confounded tone]

   Nej du, så lätt slipper du inte undan!

   Oh no, you're not getting away that easily! [Compare the change in tone between "No, you're not getting away that easily!" and "No, dragon, you're not getting away that easily!"]

Usage notes

While du is the traditionally familiar mode of address, it is since the early '70s the standard in almost all circumstances, possibly capitalized in formal communications. This was the result of the so-called du-reformen.

Recently, use of the second-person plural pronoun ni as a less familiar (and thus more formal) pronoun has appeared to some extent, but mainly amongst shopkeepers towards customers.

The same pronoun ni has also been used historically as a formal way of address, but its use has (in particular in Sweden, not so much in Swedish-speaking parts of Finland) been restricted to addressing people of lower social status, whereby a plethora of different constructions were employed as to avoid the issue of pronouns whatsoever. See also the article about T-V distinction in Wikipedia.

Declension

Swedish personal pronouns

Number	Person		nominative	oblique	possessive
					common	neuter	plural
singular	first	—	jag	mig, mej3	min	mitt	mina
	second	—	du	dig, dej3	din	ditt	dina
	third	masculine (person)	han	honom, han2, en5	hans
		feminine (person)	hon	henne, na5	hennes
		gender-neutral (person)1	hen	hen, henom7	hens
		common (noun)	den	den	dess
		neuter (noun)	det	det	dess
		indefinite	man or en4	en	ens
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina
plural	first	—	vi	oss	vår, våran2	vårt, vårat2	våra
	second	—	ni	er	er, eran2, ers6	ert, erat2	era
		archaic	I	eder	eder, eders6	edert	edra
	third	—	de, dom3	dem, dom3	deras
		reflexive	—	sig, sej3	sin	sitt	sina

¹Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, though it remains limited.

²Informal

³Colloquial pronunciation spelling.

⁴Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative to man, to avoid association to the male gender.

⁵Informal, somewhat dialectal

⁶Formal address

⁷Discouraged by the Swedish Language Council

Derived terms

• dua
• duskål
• är du snäll

See also

• hallå ("Hey!", more literally)
• ni (“you (plural subjective case)”)
• öh (also used to get someone's attention)

References

• “du”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “du”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “du”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• UD

Tlingit

Pronoun

du

1. his/her

See also

• hú

Tregami

Tregami cardinal numbers

<  1	2	3  >
Cardinal : du

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *dū, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdu/

Numeral

du (Gambir)

1. two

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *jьdǫ (first-person singular) and *jьdǫtь (third-person plural), inflected forms of *jьti. Compare Lower Sorbian du, Czech jdu, jdou.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdu/
• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: du

Verb

du

1. inflection of hić:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. third-person plural present indicative

Venetan

Etymology

Compare Italian due

Numeral

du m

1. two

Synonyms

• dó

Vietnamese

Etymology

Both characters below depict a single etymology. 遊 (MC yuw) also has a less common reading do, now seen only in do thám.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zu˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jʊw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [jʊw˧˧]

Romanization

du

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 遊
2. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 游

Derived terms

• chu du
• du canh
• du côn
• du cư
• du di
• du đãng
• du hành
• du hí
• du học
• du khách
• du khảo
• du kích
• du lịch
• du mục
• hạ du
• mộng du
• ngao du
• thượng du
• trung du
• viễn du

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *duβ, from Proto-Celtic *dubus, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /dɨː/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /diː/
• Homophone: dŷ; (South Wales) di
• Rhymes: -ɨː

Adjective

du (feminine singular du, plural duon, comparative duach, equative dued, superlative duaf)

1. black

   Mae ganddo fo fwstash du.

   He has a black mustache

Derived terms

• cochddu, dugoch (“russet, dark bay”)
• du a gwyn (“black and white; piebald”)
• duedd, düwch (“blackness”)
• dulas (“dark blue, violet”)
• llwytu, llwyd-ddu (“dark grey”)
• twll du (“black hole”)
• tyngu'r du yn wyn (“to swear black is white”)

See also

Colors in Welsh · lliwiau (layout · text)

gwyn	llwyd	du
coch; rhudd	oren, melyngoch; brown	melyn; melynwyn
melynwyrdd	gwyrdd
gwyrddlas; glaswyrdd	asur, gwynlas	glas
fioled, rhuddlas; indigo	majenta; porffor	pinc, rhuddwyn

Mutation

Mutated forms of du

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
du	ddu	nu	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “du”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “du”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

White Hmong

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /du˧/

Adjective

du

1. smooth

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dù/

Verb

dù

1. to scramble for, to compete

   wọ́n du oúnjẹ ― They scrambled for food

Usage notes

• du before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìdu
• ìjàdù (“scramble; struggle”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dū/

Verb

du

1. (Lagos, intransitive) to run, to sprint

   Synonym: sá

Derived terms

• ìdu

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dú/

Verb

dú

1. (intransitive, of a person or animal) to bleed

   Synonyms: dújẹ̀, ṣẹ̀jẹ̀

Derived terms

• ìdú (“the act of bleeding”)

Etymology 4

Cognate with Igala dú

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dú/

Verb

dú

1. to be black, to be dark

   Antonym: fun

   ó dú láwọ̀ ― Her skin is dark

Derived terms

• Adú (“A Yoruba nickname for someone who is dark in complextion”)
• adú (“something that is black”)
• dú láwọ̀ (“to have a black skin color”)
• dúdú (“black”)
• igbódú (“dark or dense forest”)
• Ilẹ̀ Adúláwọ̀ (“Africa”)
• ilẹ̀dú (“dark, nutrient rich soil”)
• èédú (“coal, charcoal”)
• òdú (“the plant American black nightshade”)