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Grammar pedants - help please.

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DeeGee Mar 2023 3:26pm, 13 Mar 2023 22,487 posts	Quote Pin DeeGee And in Italian the formal second person pronoun is "Lei" and capitalised in written language while the third person feminine pronoun is "lei." Just like Sie/sie in German, then? Not like that in French, where you just speak formally to a group. Of course, in French vernacular, what we'd consider to be first person plural is expressed as third person singular.
ChrisHB Mar 2023 4:21pm, 13 Mar 2023 22,329 posts	Quote Pin ChrisHB German is much more complex. It used the third person singular as a way of talking down to people and the 2nd person plural to be polite until it was replaced by the third person plural.
ChrisHB Mar 2023 4:24pm, 13 Mar 2023 22,330 posts	Quote Pin ChrisHB In Italian the capitalisation of Lei etc is optional. The thing is that words such as majesty, highness, excellency are all feminine so it's but a small step from Has Your Majesty quite finished? To Has She finished?
ChrisHB Mar 2023 4:26pm, 13 Mar 2023 22,331 posts	Quote Pin ChrisHB And finally. Does your majesty take sugar is third person, not second , because the verb is does rather than do.
♪♫ Synge ♪♫ Mar 2023 4:35pm, 13 Mar 2023 49,178 posts	Quote Pin ♪♫ Synge ♪♫ Sme of you will appreciate this in the light of the latest conversation. One of the very few accounts that I follow on Twitter is "German at Portsmouth", who invariably find excellent content and who publicised this sign, to the consternation of many of their older followers ..
ChrisHB Mar 2023 4:42pm, 13 Mar 2023 22,332 posts	Quote Pin ChrisHB Love it!
RichHL Mar 2023 6:21pm, 13 Mar 2023 20,972 posts	Quote Pin RichHL At some point the second person plural "you" replaced "thou" in Modern English as a singular. I don't think there has been an equivalent of the formal you that's found in other European languages. It would have been there in Old English, maybe in Middle English. I don't understand your examples about addressing someone by an honorific or title. "Your Majesty" or "Your Grace" or "Your Honour" are all used instead of "you." The third person equivalent of lei in Italian is Her Majesty, Her Grace, Her Honour. The equivalent of the formal Lei is our "Your Majesty" or "Your Grace" or "Your Honour, all straight second person addresses.
ChrisHB Mar 2023 7:35pm, 13 Mar 2023 22,334 posts	Quote Pin ChrisHB But "Your Majesty" isn't grammatically the equivalent of "you". Certainly it is in terms of the person addressed. It's "Your majesty IS grumpy today" not "Your majesty ARE grumpy today". But my question remains: Is it in use today?
swittle Mar 2023 8:21pm, 13 Mar 2023 95,649 posts	Quote Pin swittle For thee: en.wikipedia.org
RichHL Mar 2023 12:36pm, 14 Mar 2023 20,977 posts	Quote Pin RichHL But "Your Majesty" isn't grammatically the equivalent of "you". Certainly it is in terms of the person addressed. It's "Your majesty IS grumpy today" not "Your majesty ARE grumpy today". But my question remains: Is it in use today? Ah, I get it. Thank you. I think the only people who would be able to answer your question accurately are in the royal household.