Ti, Vi, vi: addressing people
The rule
Lične zamenice
The part of the grammar page this lesson drills — read it here, then use it.
Addressing people: ти, Ви, ви
Ти is informal, for one person you know well - family, friends, peers. Ви, capitalized, is formal - for one person you don't know well, an elder, or a superior - and always takes plural verb agreement even though it means one person: „Ви сте нови колега.“
Plain lowercase ви addresses more than one person, formal or informal. In speech Ви and ви sound identical; the capital letter is a writing-only convention marking formal respect toward a single addressee.
| Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ti | jedna osoba, neformalno | Ti si dobar. |
| Vi | jedna osoba, formalno (veliko slovo) | Vi ste ljubazni. |
| vi | više osoba | Deca, vi ste glasni. |