thou

Meaning

1. 1pronounsingularold-fashionedliteraryreligion

   An old-fashioned word for 'you' used when speaking to one person as the subject of a sentence.

   Grammar: Used as the subject of a verb: thou art, thou hast, thou shalt. The object form is 'thee', and the possessive is 'thy' or 'thine'.

   Patterns

   • thou art
   • thou hast
   • thou shalt

   In the old prayer, the worshipper says, 'Thou art holy.'

   The poet addressed his beloved with 'thou' in the sonnet.

   In some rural dialects in England, older speakers still use 'thou' among family and friends.

Common combinations

thou art

The line 'Thou art more lovely and more temperate' is from a famous sonnet.

thou shalt

The commandment begins, 'Thou shalt not steal.'

thou hast

In the old text, the character says, 'Thou hast betrayed me.'

if thou

The poem repeats, 'If thou wilt leave me, do so quietly.'

Synonyms and how they differ

you

The modern standard pronoun for both singular and plural; 'thou' is archaic and used only in special contexts.

ye

An old plural form of 'you' used as a subject; 'thou' is singular, while 'ye' is plural.

Word family

thee pronoun

The old object form of 'thou', used as the object of a verb or preposition (e.g., 'I love thee').

thy determiner

The old possessive form of 'thou', used before a noun (e.g., 'thy name').

thine pronoun

The old possessive form of 'thou', used before a vowel or as a pronoun (e.g., 'thine eyes', 'it is thine').

thyself pronoun

The old reflexive form of 'thou' (e.g., 'know thyself').

Commonly confused: thou or though? thou or thou (unit)?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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