Vi is Esperanto's ordinary second-person pronoun for both one addressee and several. It is neutral with respect to gender, intimacy, status, and politeness. Context, a noun of address, or adjective agreement can clarify number when the distinction matters.
One form for one or many
Esperanto does not divide ordinary “you” into singular/plural or informal/formal forms. The same vi addresses a child, a friend, a stranger, a manager, or an audience.
Ana, ĉu vi havas momenton?
Ana, do you have a moment?
Karaj gastoj, vi povas lasi viajn jakojn ĉi tie.
Dear guests, you can leave your jackets here.
Sinjoro Petro, vi estas la sekva en la vico.
Mr. Petro, you are next in line.
There is no required polite capital Vi in ordinary modern writing. Capitalization may appear in letters as an optional mark of respect, influenced by other languages, but lowercase vi is fully polite and standard. The pedagogical recommendation is to use lowercase except where a chosen house style requires otherwise.
Adjective agreement reveals number
Although vi itself is unchanged, an adjective that describes its referent agrees with the intended number.
Marta, vi estas tre pacienca.
Marta, you are very patient.
Marta kaj Leo, vi estas tre paciencaj.
Marta and Leo, you are very patient.
Ĉu vi estas preta? — Jes, mi povas foriri nun.
Are you ready? — Yes, I can leave now. (one addressee)
Ĉu vi estas pretaj? — Jes, ni ĉiuj jam havas niajn biletojn.
Are you ready? — Yes, we all already have our tickets. (several addressees)
The contrast preta/pretaj reflects meaning. It does not create two forms of vi. This same semantic agreement appears with participial adjectives: vi estas invitita to one person, vi estas invititaj to several.
When no adjective reveals number, add an explicit expression if ambiguity matters: vi ĉiuj, vi ambaŭ, vi du, or a noun of address.
Vi ambaŭ ricevos apartan ŝlosilon.
You will both receive a separate key.
Vin as the direct object
Add accusative -n to form vin, again for either singular or plural reference.
Mi atendos vin antaŭ la teatro.
I'll wait for you in front of the theater.
Mi invitas vin ĉiujn al nia jara pikniko.
I invite all of you to our annual picnic.
In vin ĉiujn, ĉiujn agrees with the plural accusative referent and explicitly selects the group reading. Addressing one person would simply use vin or vin solan depending on meaning.
After an ordinary preposition, retain vi: kun vi, por vi, pri vi, al vi. English “with you” may call “you” an object, but Esperanto accusative -n does not mark ordinary prepositional complements.
Ĉu estas libera seĝo apud vi?
Is there a free seat beside you?
Via: one possessor or several
Via means “belonging or relating to you,” regardless of whether “you” is one person or a group. Its agreement endings describe the possessed noun phrase.
| Addressee(s) | Possessed phrase | Esperanto |
|---|---|---|
| one or several | one room | via ĉambro |
| one or several | several rooms | viaj ĉambroj |
| one or several | one object phrase | vian ĉambron |
| one or several | several object phrases | viajn ĉambrojn |
Jen via pasporto kaj viaj vojaĝdokumentoj.
Here is your passport and your travel documents.
Mi sendis viajn fakturojn al la nova adreso.
I sent your invoices to the new address.
Viaj is plural because the documents or invoices are plural, not because several people possess them. Conversely, a group can share vian planon—one plan.
Possessive via normally replaces the article: via pasporto, not la via pasporto. Use la via only when the noun is omitted: Mia pasporto estas valida; ĉu la via ankaŭ?
Second-person reflexive meaning
The reflexive pronoun si is third-person only. When the subject is vi, repeat vin or via.
Vi vidas vin en la spegulo.
You see yourself/yourselves in the mirror.
Bonvolu preni viajn mantelojn antaŭ ol vi foriros.
Please take your coats before you leave.
The first sentence may address one person or several. If several people each see themselves, context supplies the distributive interpretation; Vi ĉiuj vidas vin en la spegulo can make the group explicit. Never use sin to mean second-person “yourself.”
Explicit and omitted vi in commands
With an ordinary finite statement or question, vi is normally explicit because the verb does not mark person: Vi venas hodiaŭ? In a command with -u, the addressee is recoverable and vi is normally omitted.
Fermu la pordon, bonvolu.
Close the door, please.
Vi fermu la pordon; mi portos la skatolojn.
You close the door; I'll carry the boxes.
The explicit vi in the second sentence is contrastive: you perform one task, while I perform another. It is not required merely to make the command grammatical.
The status of ci
The singular second-person ci appears in the Universala Vortaro of the Fundamento and is therefore a recognized historical form. It never became a normal everyday familiar pronoun, however. PMEG notes that many speakers do not understand it reliably, and standard modern Esperanto uses vi in every ordinary social relationship.
In (literary) translation or linguistic discussion, ci may be used to represent a source language's special intimate or contemptuous pronoun. That is marked experimentation, not a model for routine conversation. The accurate pedagogical rule is: use vi.
En normala Esperanto oni diras ‘vi’ ankaŭ al unu proksima amiko.
In normal Esperanto, one says vi even to one close friend.
Generic “you”
When English uses “you” for people in general, neutral standard Esperanto uses oni if no actual addressee is meant.
En tiu retejo oni povas senpage krei konton.
On that website, you can create an account for free.
Using oni avoids confusing a general instruction with a claim about the listener personally. See Generic You versus Oni for the register and focus differences.
Common Mistakes
Making a special plural pronoun
❌ Vioj ĉiuj povas eniri nun.
Incorrect — Esperanto has no regular plural form vioj for the personal pronoun.
✅ Vi ĉiuj povas eniri nun.
All of you may enter now.
Leaving a predicate adjective singular for several addressees
❌ Amikoj, ĉu vi estas preta?
Incorrect — preta does not agree with the plural addressees.
✅ Amikoj, ĉu vi estas pretaj?
Friends, are you ready?
Using accusative after an ordinary preposition
❌ Mi venos kun vin.
Incorrect — kun governs the basic pronoun form.
✅ Mi venos kun vi.
I will come with you.
Using the third-person reflexive
❌ Vi devas fidi sin.
Incorrect — si cannot refer to a second-person subject.
✅ Vi devas fidi vin.
You must trust yourself/yourselves.
Key Takeaways
- Vi is the neutral standard pronoun for one or several addressees in every social register.
- Agreement on adjectives can reveal whether vi is singular or plural.
- Vin is the direct-object form; use basic vi after ordinary prepositions.
- Via does not show how many possessors there are; its endings agree with what is possessed.
- Use vin/via for second-person reflexive meanings, and normally omit vi in simple commands.
Related Topics
- Personal Pronouns: OverviewA1 — Learn Esperanto personal pronouns as a system of person, number, accusative marking, possession, and reflexive reference.
- Mi and NiA1 — Use Esperanto first-person pronouns for the speaker alone or the speaker with others, including objects, possession, and inclusive or exclusive reference.
- Accusative Personal PronounsA1 — Add -n to a personal pronoun when it is a direct object, while leaving pronouns after ordinary prepositions unmarked.
- Possessive Forms in -AA1 — Form Esperanto possessives by adding -a to personal pronouns and use them as determiner-like words before nouns.
- Generic You versus OniB1 — Use oni for people in general and reserve vi for the actual person or people being addressed.
- Respectful and Historical CiB2 — Understand the extremely rare singular ci, why it is not a respectful modern pronoun, and why neutral vi is the safe form for every addressee.