The Lack of Formality

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     As this week's class discussion dived into the reason behind using polite phrases and indirect speech, I realized how important it was to communicate with others using respectful speech. 

    As someone who values speaking to others respectfully and politely, I always felt distasteful towards how the bare English language is structured. Unlike many other languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, or the many Indian languages, the English language lacks the formal conjugation for the second person pronoun "you".

 


     Personally, this missing formal conjugation makes communicating with others, especially those older than you, difficult. 

    I've been exposed to multiple different languages other than English that use a formal conjugation, and if I happen to make a slight mistake and refer to someone older than me with the informal "you", I might as well give up trying to build a good relationship with them, since I've now shown them that I don't think of them in a respectful way. 

    Having grown up with these morals, the lack of formality in English leads me to believe that whenever I refer to someone as "you", I'm being disrespectful, especially teachers.

    I can confidently say that I've barely ever referred to a teacher using the word "you", and the way I get around doing so is using indirect speech. 

    "I noticed that I received a zero" sounds much better than "you gave me a zero", and the first phrase conveys a message while building a stronger relationship showing respect, while the latter not only blames the teacher, but also lacks respect. 

    While I do wish that the English language had a formal "you" conjugation, the lack of it could be a pro, since English is already a complex language with complicated spelling and grammar that can trick both native and learning English speakers.

Comments

  1. Sydney AFebruary 26, 2022 at 5:35 PM

    I think it is really interesting how you discuss the informalities in the English language. When I’m in Spanish class, I refer to my classmates in a informal way (tú) and my teacher in a formal way (usted). In english there is no differentiation between formal or informal, so we refer to our friends and superiors the same way.

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  2. Vidhi KamatFebruary 26, 2022 at 7:38 PM

    Oh wow, Shambhavi! I never noticed the designation of a "formal" command in this way. The English language has definitely changed over the last few centuries, and maybe in a worse way. Back in the day, the title "Miss.", and "Mr." were used quite often - even with close friends. But, over time, this formality has decreased. Nice take :)

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  3. Elizabeth GeorgeFebruary 27, 2022 at 9:43 AM

    Hi Shambhavi, great post! I love your unique take on the indirect speech. I like how you included the personal connection you made with the lack of formality English has for the word "you" and talking to people of authority. I also noticed the informal "you" and formal "you" in other languages, too, and even my cousins in India explained it to me once.

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