thy

Meanings

1. 1determinerbefore a nounarchaic

   Your, used when speaking to one person; found in old texts, poetry and prayers.

   Grammar: Used before a noun starting with a consonant sound: thy kingdom. Before a vowel sound the older form was thine: thine eyes.

   Patterns

   • thy something

   Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

   I will lift up mine eyes and praise thy name.

   Honour thy father and thy mother.

2. 2determinerbefore a nounhumorous

   Your, used jokingly or in imitation of old English.

   Grammar: Used for humor in modern speech, usually with thee and thou.

   Pray tell, where is thy lunch?

   The sign on the pub read Thy beer awaits.

Common combinations

thy will

Thy will be done, the prayer says.

thy name

Hallowed be thy name.

thy kingdom come

Thy kingdom come, the congregation prayed.

thy neighbor

Love thy neighbor as thyself.

thy servant

Hear thy servant, the poem says.

Synonyms and how they differ

your

Your is the normal modern form and is used for one person or many.

thine

Thine is the older form of thy used before vowels or on its own.

thy own

Thy own is the emphatic form, as in your own.

Word family

thou pronoun

old word for you as the subject

thee pronoun

old word for you as the object

thine determiner

older form of thy used before vowels

thyself pronoun

old word for yourself

Commonly confused: thy or thigh? thy or thine?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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