Thou
The word thou ( /ðaʊ/ in most dialects) is a second person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in almost all contexts by you. It is used in parts of Northern England and by Scots (/ðu/). Thou is the nominative form; the oblique/objective form is thee (functioning as both accusative and dative), and the possessive is thy or thine. When thou is the grammatical subject of a finite verb in the indicative mood, the verb form ends on t, most often with the ending -(e)st (e.g., "thou goest"; "thou dost"), but in some cases just -t (e.g., "thou art"; "thou shalt"). In Middle English, thou was sometimes abbreviated by putting a small "u" over the letter thorn: þͧ.
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Famous quotes containing the word thou:
“What shall he have that killed the deer?
His leather skin and horns to wear.
Then sing him home.
Take thou no scorn to wear the horn,
It was a crest ere thou wast born;
Thy father’s father wore it,
And thy father bore it.
The horn, the horn, the lusty horn
Is not a thing to laugh to scorn.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb,
He is meek, and he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“Thou call’st me dog before thou hadst a cause,
But since I am a dog, beware my fangs.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)