تو

See also: پو, بو, بۄ, بۇ, and Appendix:Variations of "tu"

Arabic

Etymology

In the sense of a knot from Persian تو (tô, “twist”). In the sense of having been just a borrowing from Egyptian Arabic تَوّ (taww) in its meaning, also Hassaniya Arabic تو (tow, “instant”), Marazīq Tunisian Arabic تاو (tâu, “moment”), in view of Sabaean 𐩻𐩥 (ṯw, “until”) borrowed from Old South Arabian, in its more original meaning present in Andalusian Arabic ثَو ذَا (ṯaw ḏā) or تَو ذَا (taw ḏā, “until now”) and Yemeni Arabic تَو (taw, “in front of”), and following this prepositional character still most notorious with personal suffixes. Possibly corresponding to سَوْفَ (sawfa) and Ge'ez ሶበ (sobä), ሶቤ (sobe, “when”).

Noun

تَوّ • (taww) m (plural أَتْوَاء (ʔatwāʔ))

1. (obsolete) a knot, a twist or contortion in a rope; a rope that is twisted of a single strand
2. instantaneousness, immediacy, onlyness, the condition of having been present just i.e. recently and/or alone

Usage notes

Though parsing as a noun, the sense of an “instance” is of restricted use, often in the adverbial accusative تَوًّا (tawwan, “just; in a bit”), and in prepositional phrases فِي التَوِّ (fī t-tawwi) and لِلتَّوِّ (li-t-tawwi) which latter in particular also takes personal suffixes instead of the article, for the findability of which constructions this dictionary entry renders the following table:

Inflection

Inflected forms
Base form					لِتَوِّ (litawwi)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Dual	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Common	Masculine	Feminine
First person	لِتَوِّي (litawwī)		لِتَوِّنَا (litawwinā)
Second person	لِتَوِّكَ (litawwika)	لِتَوِّكِ (litawwiki)	لِتَوِّكُمَا (litawwikumā)	لِتَوِّكُمْ (litawwikum)	لِتَوِّكُنَّ (litawwikunna)
Third person	لِتَوِّهِ (litawwihi)	لِتَوِّهَا (litawwihā)	لِتَوِّهِمَا (litawwihimā)	لِتَوِّهِمْ (litawwihim)	لِتَوِّهِنَّ (litawwihinna)

Declension

Declension of noun تَوّ (taww)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	تَوّ taww	التَّوّ at-taww	تَوّ taww
Nominative	تَوٌّ tawwun	التَّوُّ at-tawwu	تَوُّ tawwu
Accusative	تَوًّا tawwan	التَّوَّ at-tawwa	تَوَّ tawwa
Genitive	تَوٍّ tawwin	التَّوِّ at-tawwi	تَوِّ tawwi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	تَوَّيْن tawwayn	التَّوَّيْن at-tawwayn	تَوَّيْ tawway
Nominative	تَوَّانِ tawwāni	التَّوَّانِ at-tawwāni	تَوَّا tawwā
Accusative	تَوَّيْنِ tawwayni	التَّوَّيْنِ at-tawwayni	تَوَّيْ tawway
Genitive	تَوَّيْنِ tawwayni	التَّوَّيْنِ at-tawwayni	تَوَّيْ tawway
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَتْوَاء ʔatwāʔ	الْأَتْوَاء al-ʔatwāʔ	أَتْوَاء ʔatwāʔ
Nominative	أَتْوَاءٌ ʔatwāʔun	الْأَتْوَاءُ al-ʔatwāʔu	أَتْوَاءُ ʔatwāʔu
Accusative	أَتْوَاءً ʔatwāʔan	الْأَتْوَاءَ al-ʔatwāʔa	أَتْوَاءَ ʔatwāʔa
Genitive	أَتْوَاءٍ ʔatwāʔin	الْأَتْوَاءِ al-ʔatwāʔi	أَتْوَاءِ ʔatwāʔi

Derived terms

• تَوَّة (tawwa, “a short period”)

References

• Corriente, F. (1997) A Dictionary of Andalusi Arabic (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East; 29)‎^[1], Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 81b
• Corriente, Federico (2008) “Additions and corrections to A Dictionary of Andalusi Arabic”, in Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes‎^[2], volume 98, page 41
• Freytag, Georg (1830) “تو”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[3] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 203a
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “تو”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[4], London: Williams & Norgate, pages 320–321
• Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “تو”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎^[5] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 146a

Kohistani Shina

Noun

توٗ (tó)

1. boiled egg

Malay

Determiner

تو (tu)

1. Arabic spelling of tu (“that (what is being indicated)”)

Pronoun

تو (tu)

1. Arabic spelling of tu (“that (that thing)”)

Persian

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian 𐭫𐭪 (LK /⁠tō⁠/, “you, thou”), from Old Persian (compare 𐎬𐎺𐎶 (tuvam)), from Proto-Iranian *tuHám (compare Northern Kurdish tu, Pashto ته (tə), Avestan 𐬙𐬏𐬨 (tūm)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *tuHám, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [tuː], [toː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰuː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰuː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰuː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰu]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰo]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰu]

Readings
Classical reading?	tū, tō
Dari reading?	tū
Iranian reading?	to
Tajik reading?	tu

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Pronoun

Dari	تو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ту

تو • (to)

1. you, thou (informal, singular)
2. (generally with following را) you, thee
3. (at the end of an ezafe) your, thy

Usage notes

• The form تو را (to râ) may be contracted into ترا (torâ). In Iranian Persian and Tajik, both forms are pronounced the same regardless.
• some dialects use all regional pronunciations interchangeably

See also

Persian personal pronouns (Iranian Persian)

		singular	plural
1st person		مَن (man)	ما (mâ)
2nd person	familiar	تو (to)	شُما (šomâ)
	polite	شُما (šomâ)
3rd person	general	او (u) اون (on)*	آن‌ها (ân-hâ), آنان (ânân) اونا (onâ)*
	formal	وِی (vey)	ایشان (išân)
	polite	ایشان (išân)
* colloquial pronunciations

Persian personal pronouns (Classical and Dari)

			singular		plural
			nominative	accusative5	nominative	accusative5
1st person	general		من man	مرا marā	ما mā	-
	informal1		مه ma	مره mara		ماره māra
2nd person	familiar		تو tū, tō2	ترا turā	شما šumā	-
	formal		شما šumā	-
	informal1		-	تره tura	شمایا šumāyā	شمایاره šumāyāra
3rd person	distal	general	او ō	-	آنان4 ānān	-
			آن ān		آن‌ها4 ān‑hā
		formal	وی3 way		ایشان ēšān
			ایشان ēšān
		informal, normal1	او ū	اوره ūra	اونا ūnā	ایناره ūnāra
		informal, emphatic I1	اونو ūnū	اونوره ūnūra	وا wā	واره wāra
		informal, emphatic II1	اونمو ūnamū	اونموره ūnamūra	اونموا ūnamwā	اونمواره ūnamwāra
	proximal	general	این īn	-	اینان īnān	-
					این‌ها īn‑hā
		informal, normal1	ای ī	ایره īra	اینا īnā	ایناره īnāra
		informal, emphatic I1	اینی īnī	اینیره īnīra	یا yā	یاره yāra
		informal, emphatic II1	اینمی īnamī	اینمیره īnamīra	اینمیا īnamyā	اینمیاره īnamyāra
1 only applies to Dari 2 only applies to Classical Persian 3 not formal in Tajik 4 the plural forms آن‌ها and آنان are typically interchangeable 5 all accusative pronouns can be created with the nominative + را, only unique forms are included

See also

• شما (formal, polite, and grammatically plural)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuː/

Noun

تو • (tav, tow) (archaic)

1. pool, puddle

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

تو • (tô) (archaic)

1. fold, twist, turn

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tuː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Noun

تو • (tu)

1. (Iran or rare) inside; interior
2. (In some Regional Languages such as Luri) room, especially an outdoor room (Synonymous with اتاق (otâq, otâq) which is of Turkic origin)

Preposition

تو • (tu)

1. (Iran or rare) in; inside

   Synonym: در (dar)

   • 2023, “پاقدم”, performed by علیرضا طلیسچی:

     تو رفتی ولی فکر تو، تو سر من موند / همیشه نبودت من و قلبمو ترسوند

     to rafti vali fekr-e to tu sar-e man mund / hamiše nabudet man o qalbamo tarsund

     you left but the thought of you remained in my head / your absence always scared me and my heart

Usage notes

• May be construed with or without ezafe.

Adverb

تو • (tu)

1. (Iran or rare) inside

Adjective

تو • (tu)

1. (Iran or rare) within; interior; inner

   Synonym: در (dar)

Southwestern Fars

Noun

تو (tow)

1. (Masarm, Deh Sarv) fever

Urdu

Etymology 1

Inherited from Sauraseni Apabhramsa तुहुं (tuhũ), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀢𑀼𑀫𑀁 (tumaṃ), 𑀢𑀼𑀁 (tuṃ), from Sanskrit त्वम् (tvam).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪uː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Pronoun

تُو • (tū) (Hindi spelling तू)

1. (informal, intimate, contemptuous, possibly vulgar) second-person singular subjective personal pronoun: you, thou; Early Modern English thou.
2. (dialectal, literary, religion) second-person singular subjective personal pronoun, intimate or very polite: Thou

   اے خدا تو ہی میرا مددگار ہے!

   ai xudā tū-hī merā madadgār hai!

   O God, only Thou art my helper!

Usage notes

• تو is the least formal way of expressing "you" in Urdu and is used when addressing those of much lower social status or those one has a close enough relationship with to justify the reduced formality. Because the less formal forms could offend others, آپ is the safest way to express "you" unless there is reason to be less formal, where تم would be appropriate. The usage of تو varies. In some cases speakers would use it to refer to babies or children or even close friends, while others would use it only to refer to those they consider socially inferior, and some consider its use for people to be very rude in any situation. However تو, when used to address deities reflects a sense of reverence and closeness commensurate with the lack of formalities.

Determiner

تُو • (tū) sg (plural تم, Hindi spelling तू)

1. (informal, intimate, contemptuous, possibly vulgar) the individual spoken or written to; you, thou, Early Modern English thou.

Declension

declension of تو

direct	تُو (tū)
indirect	تجھ (tujh)
ergative	تو نے (tū-ne)
genitive	تیرا (terā)
dative	تجھے (tujhe), تجھ کو (tujh ko)

See also

• تم (tum) - semiformal, familiar, grammatically plural
• آپ (āp) - formal, polite, grammatically plural

Urdu personal pronouns
Person	Description		Direct case	Indirect case	Ergative case	Dative/Accusative case
1st person	singular		مَیں (ma͠i)	مُجھ (mujh)	مَیں نے (ma͠i ne)	مُجھ کو (mujh ko), مُجھے (mujhe)
	formal (rare)		خَاکْسَار (xāksār)		خَاکْسَار نے (xāksār ne)	خَاکْسَار کو (xāksār ko)
	plural		ہَم (ham)		ہَم نے (ham ne)	ہَم کو (ham ko), ہَمیں (hamẽ)
2nd person	informal (intimate)		تُو (tū)	تُجھ (tujh)	تُو نے (tū ne)	تُجھ کو (tujh ko), تُجھے (tujhe)
	semiformal (familiar)		تُم (tum)		تُم نے (tum ne)	تُم کو (tum ko), تُمْہیں (tumhẽ)
	formal (polite)		آپ (āp)		آپ نے (āp ne)	آپ کو (āp ko)
3rd person	proximal	singular / informal	یِہ (ye)	اِس (is)	اِس نے (is ne)	اِس کو (is ko), اِسے (ise)
		plural / formal		اِن (in)	اِنْہوں نے (inhõ ne)	اِن کو (in ko), اِنْہیں (inhẽ)
	distal	singular / informal	وُہ (vo)	اُس (us)	اُس نے (us ne)	اُس کو (us ko), اُسے (use)
		plural / formal		اُن (un)	اُنْہوں نے (unhõ ne)	اُن کو (un ko), اُنْہیں (unhẽ)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit, probably from Sanskrit ततस् (tatas, “from there”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪oː/

Conjunction

تو • (to) (Hindi spelling तो)

1. then

References

• Platts, John T. (1884) “تو”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “तू”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press