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Jan van Steenbergen scripsit:
> If I am not completely mistaken, German "Sie" is not the feminine singular
> pronoun, but the MFN plural. That is also why the following verb always is in
> the third person plural.
Just so.
> Before "Sie" came in use, "ihr" (2rd person plural) was used as a polite form,
> exactly the same as French "vous" and Russian "wy".
At that time, the *3sg* was also in use for addressing inferiors who weren't
related.
> Other languages that use a third person singular:
> Dutch ("u"), although it is more and more often followed by a verb in the 2nd
> person singular;
> Polish ("pan/pani") (lit. Mr./Mrs., Lord/Lady).
Portuguese ("o senhor/a senhora"/other titles).
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