In Italian and German the subject pronoun corresponding to "she" (lei, sie) has become the formal way to say "you". As for Italian, a alternate system similar to French exists where a formal you (voi) corresponds to the plural you (voi). It has the same verbal structure with the (-ate, -ite, -ete) endings. It may be legend but I was told it fell out of use after the second world war because it was the preferred formal you of the fascist regime. The other system is with Lei (singular third person verb forms) that coincides completely with lei (she) and logically takes the feminine object pronouns La/Le. La vedo ogni giorno (I see her / you formal daily). Le scrivo una lettera. (I write her/ you formal a letter). German also uses "sie" as a subject pronoun but with a plural verb form. Sie spricht (she speaks) but Sie sprechen (You speak). It may be important that Sie is also They. So Sie sprechen can also be (they speak). I think the object pronouns also correspond to "she". Ich sehe sie (I see her/you formal). Ich gebe ihr ein geschenk (I give her/ you a present). Edit: Wrong assumption here. It's actually plural with Ihnen. I was wondering what is the history of taking the feminine (she) for the formal you and why "lui" and "er" weren't similarly taken for symmetry. This may or may not be a simple question, but it's intriguing.