thine

Meanings

1. 1pronounsingulararchaic

   The thing or things belonging to you, as one person being addressed; an old form of 'yours'.

   Grammar: Stands alone as a pronoun: the crown is thine.

   Patterns

   • X is thine
   • thine and mine

   The glory shall be thine, not mine.

   Is this letter thine?

   Mine is the sword, and thine the shield.

2. 2determinerbefore a nounarchaic

   Your, used before a word starting with a vowel sound, where 'thy' is used before a consonant.

   Grammar: Comes before a noun beginning with a vowel: thine eyes, thine own.

   Patterns

   • thine own
   • thine eyes

   I see the light in thine eyes.

   Let thine heart be glad.

   Take thine armor and go.

Common combinations

thine own

Be true to thine own self.

thine eyes

Lift up thine eyes to the hills.

thine enemy

Forgive thine enemy, says the old verse.

thine is the kingdom

The prayer ends with 'thine is the kingdom'.

Synonyms and how they differ

yours

Yours is the modern word with exactly this role, and it is used in all everyday speech and writing.

thy

Thy is the form used before consonants, such as thy house, while thine is used alone or before vowels.

your

Your is the modern determiner for both singular and plural owners.

Opposites

Word family

thy determiner

your, before a consonant sound

thou pronoun

you, as subject

thee pronoun

you, as object

thyself pronoun

yourself

Commonly confused: thine or thy?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “thine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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