حضرتك

Arabic

Etymology

حَضْرَة (ḥaḍra, “presence”) + كَ/كِ (ka/ki, “your”); "your presence" (i.e. "your grace"). Compare Spanish usted (from vuestra merced (“your mercy”)), and the cognate Portuguese term você.

Pronoun

حَضْرَتُكَ • (ḥaḍratuka) m

1. (formal) you (polite second-person personal pronoun)

Usage notes

• حَضْرَتُكَ (ḥaḍratuka) and حَضْرَتُكِ (ḥaḍratuki) are used in conducting business with strangers and formal or professional acquaintances, but their use is not considered compulsory in such situations (unlike French vous, Spanish usted, German Sie, etc.), and Arabic does not have a true T-V distinction. Use of the simple pronouns أَنْتَ (ʔanta) and أَنْتِ (ʔanti) is generally not considered rude or disrespectful.
• Though morphologically third person, حَضْرَتُكَ (ḥaḍratuka) and حَضْرَتُكِ (ḥaḍratuki) display second-person agreement (thus, verbs whose subject is حَضْرَتُكِ (ḥaḍratuki) or حَضْرَتُكِ (ḥaḍratuki) are conjugated in the second person).
• Similarly, although حَضْرَتُكَ (ḥaḍratuka) is technically a form of the feminine noun حَضْرَة (ḥaḍra), it displays masculine gender agreement.
• Although morphologically singular, the dual and plural forms display dual and plural agreement, respectively.

Declension

Declension of pronoun حَضْرَتَك (ḥaḍratak)

Singular	Masculine		Feminine
	basic singular triptote		singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	—	حَضْرَتَك ḥaḍratak	—	حَضْرَتِك ḥaḍratik
Nominative	—	حَضْرَتُكَ ḥaḍratuka	—	حَضْرَتُكِ ḥaḍratuki
Accusative	—	حَضْرَتَكَ ḥaḍrataka	—	حَضْرَتَكِ ḥaḍrataki
Genitive	—	حَضْرَتِكَ ḥaḍratika	—	حَضْرَتِكِ ḥaḍratiki
Dual	Masculine		Feminine
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	—	حَضْرَتْكُمَا ḥaḍratkumā	—	حَضْرَتْكُمَا ḥaḍratkumā
Nominative	—	حَضْرَتُكُمَا ḥaḍratukumā	—	حَضْرَتُكُمَا ḥaḍratukumā
Accusative	—	حَضْرَتَكُمَا ḥaḍratakumā	—	حَضْرَتَكُمَا ḥaḍratakumā
Genitive	—	حَضْرَتِكُمَا ḥaḍratikumā	—	حَضْرَتِكُمَا ḥaḍratikumā
Plural	Masculine		Feminine
	plural unknown		sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	—	حَضْرَتْكُم ḥaḍratkum	—	حَضْرَتْكُنَّ ḥaḍratkunna
Nominative	—	حَضْرَتُكُم ḥaḍratukum	—	حَضْرَتُكُنَّ ḥaḍratukunna
Accusative	—	حَضْرَتَكُم ḥaḍratakum	—	حَضْرَتَكُنَّ ḥaḍratakunna
Genitive	—	حَضْرَتِكُم ḥaḍratikum	—	حَضْرَتِكُنَّ ḥaḍratikunna

Egyptian Arabic

Pronoun

حضرتك • (ḥadretak or ḥadretik)

1. you (formal)