Formerly we used thou as the second person singular pronoun (which simply means that we would use thou to address another single person). Thee was used in the objective or oblique case (when referring to the object of a verb or preposition), and thou was used in the nominative (when indicating the subject of a verb).
How do you use thou and thy?
Thee, thou, and thine (or thy) are Early Modern English second person singular pronouns. Thou is the subject form (nominative), thee is the object form, and thy/thine is the possessive form. thou – singular informal, subject (Thou art here. = You are here .)
What is thou used for?
Thou is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for ‘you ‘ when you are talking to only one person. It is used as the subject of a verb.
Why do Quakers use thee and thou?
The Quaker use of “thee” and “thou” continued as a protest against the sinfulness of English grammar for more than 200 years . ... Like today’s egalitarians, the Quakers understood that what we say, as well as how we say it, can play a crucial part in creating a more just and equal society.
When did English stop using thou?
By the seventeenth century, thee/thou was generally used to express familiarity, affection, or contempt, or to address one’s social inferiors (Lass, 149). By 1800 , both unmarked and marked uses of thee and thou, had become virtually obsolete in Standard English (Denison, 314).
What is another word for thou?
In this page you can discover 22 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for thou, like: yourself , you, thee, thyself, ye, thine, yard, thy, 1000, wherefore and hast.
Does thou mean your?
pronoun, singular, nominative thou;possessive thy or thine;objective thee;plural, nominative you or ye; possessive your or yours ;objective you or ye.
What does hast thou mean?
Hast is an old-fashioned second person singular form of the verb ‘have. ‘ It is used with ‘thou’ which is an old-fashioned form of ‘ you . ‘
Do thou meaning?
(Entry 1 of 3) archaic. : the one addressed thou shalt have no other gods before me — Exodus 20:3 (King James Version) —used especially in ecclesiastical or literary language and by Friends as the universal form of address to one person — compare thee, thine, thy, ye, you. thou. verb.
Is thou still used?
In standard modern English, thou continues to be used in formal religious contexts , in wedding ceremonies, in literature that seeks to reproduce archaic language, and in certain fixed phrases such as “fare thee well”. For this reason, many associate the pronoun with solemnity or formality.
Do Quakers still use plain speech?
Later, as “thee” and “thou” disappeared from everyday English usage, many Quakers continued to use these words as a form of “plain speech”, though the original reason for this usage disappeared, along with “hast” and “hath”. ... Today there are still Friends that will use “thee” with other Quakers .
What do thee and thou mean?
Thee, thou, and thine (or thy) are Early Modern English second person singular pronouns . Thou is the subject form (nominative), thee is the object form, and thy/thine is the possessive form.
What does thou mean in Old English?
Thou is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for ‘you ‘ when you are talking to only one person. It is used as the subject of a verb.
Why did we stop using thou in English?
The reason people stopped using thou (and thee) was that social status— whether you were considered upper class or lower class—became more fluid during this time .
Why is there no formal you in English?
Why Doesn’t English Have Formal Pronouns? English is a Germanic language, meaning it evolved from the same language as German. ... Going all the way back to Old English, there were two second-person pronouns: þū for the singular “you” and ge for the plural “you.” Over time, these evolved into thou and ye, respectively.
How do you say you in Old English?
The singular of “you” is “thou” . “Thy” is “your” as the singular possessive pronoun. “Thee” is the singular direct object for “you”.
