You

Jennifer Lindsay*

We native speakers of English are often baffled by the choices existing in other languages, including Indonesian, for the second person pronoun, 'you'. This is because English is rather strange in not having options. Whether we are addressing one person or many, a lover or a stranger, an old person or a baby, we use 'you'. The phrase, 'Would you like me to help?' for instance, will be identical, no matter who it is we are talking to.