Polite Pronoun 'Vi'

01

One Person, Plural Forms

With polite Vi the verb takes the second person plural form (the -te ending), exactly as if you were speaking to several people.

• Što sada radite?

  What are you doing now? (polite)

• Kako vam mogu pomoći?

  How can I help you?

• Jeste li otvoreni?

  Are you open?

02

'ti' versus 'Vi'

Use ti with friends, family, children and peers; use Vi with strangers, officials, customers and elders. Switching to ti too early can sound rude.

• Kako se zoveš?

  What's your name? (familiar)

• Kako se zovete?

  What's your name? (polite)

03

Its Object and Possessive Forms

The other forms of polite Vi are the plural ones: vas (you), vam (to you), vaš (your).

• Ne vidim vas.

  I don't see you.

• Želim vam ugodan dan.

  I wish you a pleasant day.

• Studentica sam u vašem razredu.

  I am a student in your class.

04

Polite Commands

A request to someone you address as Vi uses the plural imperative, often with molim vas (please).

• Molim vas, sjedite.

  Please, sit down.

• Nazovite nas kad stignete.

  Call us when you arrive.

The past tense borrows the plural in the same way. Speaking to one person politely, the auxiliary is ste and the participle takes its plural ending, even though you mean one person.

• Zašto ste to učinili?

  Why did you do that?

• učini-li plural, though the question may well be put to a single person

05

Plural and Polite Look the Same

Because Vi borrows the plural, an identical sentence can address one person politely or several people; only context tells them apart.

• Kako ste?

  How are you? (one person politely, or several)

• Odakle ste?

  Where are you from?

• Jeste li dobro?

  Are you well?

06

Written with a Capital

In letters and other writing, polite Vi (and Vam, Vaš) is often capitalised as a mark of respect.

• Veselim se Vašem odgovoru.

  I look forward to your reply.

• Molim Vas da prihvatite moju ispriku.

  Please accept my apology.