Meaning & use
thee
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Meaning
pronounarchaic
You, used as the object of a verb or preposition in old or formal English.
Grammar: Used as an object pronoun: I saw thee. The subject form is thou.
Patterns
- verb + thee
- preposition + thee
I will follow thee wherever thou goest.
She gave thee her hand in marriage.
The Lord bless thee and keep thee.
Common combinations
- thee and thou
- In Shakespeare's plays, thee and thou are used among close friends and family.
- I love thee
- The poem begins, 'I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.'
- thou and thee
- Quakers traditionally used thou and thee instead of you.
- thee alone
- My heart belongs to thee alone.
Synonyms and how they differ
- you
- The modern standard pronoun; use 'you' in everyday speech, and 'thee' only in historical or religious contexts.
Word family
- thou pronoun
- The subject form of 'thee', meaning 'you' as the doer of an action.
- thy determiner
- The possessive form of 'thou', meaning 'your' before a consonant sound.
- thine pronoun
- The possessive form of 'thou', meaning 'yours' or used before a vowel sound.
- ye pronoun
- An old plural form of 'you', used as the subject.
Commonly confused: thee or the? thee or thou?
thee vs the
A common definite article, pronounced /ðə/ or /ðiː/; 'thee' is a pronoun and is always stressed /ðiː/.
thee vs thou
The subject form ('thou art'), while 'thee' is the object form ('I see thee').
Practice
In the sentence 'I will always love thee,' what is the grammatical function of 'thee'?
Choose one answer.
'Thee' is the object form of 'thou', so it receives the action of the verb 'love'. The subject is 'I'. 'Thou' would be the subject form, and 'thy' would be the possessive determiner.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thee”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.