Plural form of 您

[Johnny20270]

I know plural form of 您 would be used like 您几位...

 

But we can pluralize 你, 他，我 as 你们，他们，我们, ... etc

 

so why not 您们？Any historic or grammatical reason for this?

[ZhangJiang]

One theory is that 您 came from the reduction of 你们, so 您们 would be 你们们. I think it makes sense but I don't know why plurals are used to show respect.

[Lu]

I don't know why plurals are used to show respect.

I don't know either, but it happens in other languages too. Spanish and French both have the same word for you-plural as for you-polite. In Dutch (and probably other languages too), the Queen/King can refer to her/himself as 'wij' (we). Perhaps it's something like 'you are as important as several regular people'.

[OneEye]

This seems apropos.

 

I've always understood it to mean "God and I" when used by the pope, and "I the person and I the office" when used by royalty. Could be wrong.

[tooironic]

OK, this is really weird, I just started translating a document - a letter to a government official, to be exact - and the very first line is 您们好！

 

So I guess the expression is acceptable.

[Demonic_Duck]

“您们” seems really weird to me, but here's what 汉语规范词典 has to say:

 

“提示：‘您’用于复数时，口语中一般不说‘您们’，而是在‘您’后加数量词语，如‘您二位’‘您几位’。”

 

Emphasis is mine. So I guess the implication is that “您们” isn't incorrect, just very uncommon in spoken language.

 

I'd also add that “您二位”、“您几位”、“您诸位” etc. sound rather “customer-servicey” to me. For older people you know personally, you'd probably be better off using “您俩”、“您仨” or simply “你们”.

[Michaelyus]

大家 is my go-to plural for 您. In actual conversation, I think I tend to use 各位 and then carefully drop my pronouns. I also employ the rather quaint method of 先生们 occasionally. Whereas I rather rarely say 您 spontaneously, and would be unlikely to write it, I would probably never use 您们, spoken or written. 

 

[A slight diversion]

 

Pluralis majestatis and the T-V distinction emerges and disappears for all sorts of reasons. I like this chart that shows when the T-V distinction emerged in some European languages (dates of disappearance not included). 

 

There are a few theories as to why plurals emerged as a major strategy in Europe of creating honorifics in the Middle Ages: 

• having two emperors simultaneously in the Roman Empire meant addressing one implied addressing them both;
• the use of the "royal we" by the Emperor induced a reply in the plural.

Using a plural you to mean an honorific or polite singular you is not the only method. The "other" major strategy in European courts, that of using the third person, was apparently a German innovation, according to this. Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan did something similar: where German and Italian substituted a pronoun, Spanish/Portuguese/Catalan just reduced the title phonologically, hence vuestra merced > usted (Sp.), vossa mercee > você (Pt.), and vostra mercè > vostè (Cat.). Plurals formed according to regular grammatical markers: ustedes, vocês, vostès. [Catalan also has the above second-person plural to second-person singular polite strategy; the tension between vós and vostè used to be that the former was for common politeness whereas the latter was for professional formal situations; Spanish and Portuguese].

 

Interestingly, some varieties repeat the cycle: Latin American Spanish and (southern) Brazilian Portuguese have generalised the polite ustedes and vocês to most plural uses, and have tended to use the titles señor and o senhor (and their feminine equivalents) for a polite singular you alongside their plural equivalents. To a smaller extent, this is even true of parts of the US, where Sir/Madam have become ways of addressing people in and throughout conversation, not just referring to them. This is the strategy that speakers of Chinese in the south, whether of southern forms of Mandarin or of other southern topolects, employ most often.

 

As Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese (as well as English) all inflect for plural, it is relatively straightforward: señores, os senhores, Sirs. But in Chinese, this is not necessary as 大家 or 各位 do not fit neatly into the pronoun paradigm and are treated as nouns.

 

 

EDIT: Just saw this guide for those 海外...

[Johnny20270]

interesting read!

 

thanks all 

[WindyZhang]

Hi, I'm a chinese, we don't say 您们、您俩、您仨，we use 您 when show respects to somebody，您俩、您仨、您们 can't show respects.

 

您 is a honorific

[Johnny20270]

Hi, I'm a chinese, we don't say 您们、您俩、您仨，we use 您 when show respects to somebody，您俩、您仨、您们 can't show respects.

 

您 is a honorific

 

so what would you usually say in your daily life for the plural form of 您 

[WindyZhang]

 

 

so what would you usually say in your daily life for the plural form of 您 

 

waiters(店小二) always say 您几位、您二位、您三位, people usually say 位 for the plural form to show respects. such as 各位领导、各位来宾、各位同仁、在座诸位 ect.

 

Juniors say 您 to show respects to seniors， low levels say 您 to show respects to high levels ， don't use 您 to your friends and peers.

[Angelina]

Yes, 各位X is used pretty often. 您們 sounds strange. Other people might use it, but it is not considered standard.