How do we have to accord the adjectives with the polite form "вы"? Plural or singular? Should we, for example, tell a man "вы красивый", or "вы красивые"? (logically I would use singular, but I want to be sure!!).
3 Answers
The predicate (short) form is mandatorily plural: вы красивы. However, when full-form adjectives are used colloquially as predicates, singular sounds more natural: вы такая красивая, etc.
answered Feb 20, 2015 at 17:11
Changing pronoun "ты" to polite form "вы" doesn't affect adjective.
Example: "Вы красивый мужчина" - singular form, masculine gender. “Вы красивая женщина” - singular form, feminine gender.
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Those are not very relevant examples because the adjective in both agrees with a noun. The question is what do you do when you only have the pronoun to go upon. Feb 21, 2015 at 10:03
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tell a man "вы красивый": Subject in the sentence in singular form, masculine gender person, replaced with pronoun. Feb 21, 2015 at 15:35
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That's different. However, that's only in case you use the full form of the adjective as a predicate, which only happens in colloquial speech. The short form must be plural:
вы красивы. Feb 21, 2015 at 18:44 -
Your point is correct but it’s not applicable for this particular case. "вы красивый" is not a whole sentence. Feb 21, 2015 at 20:11
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@Soumiruzu It is a complete sentence. Only, with full form adjective a noun is always implied, so they always agree with a real person without cheating, even when there is polite "вы". Feb 21, 2015 at 20:22
In colloquial speech both variants can be used. However, I would prefer to use the first one, especially in formal written language
