Thou

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:

    I know thou’rt full of love and honesty,
    And weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them breath.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    O thou immortal light and heat!
    Whose hand so shines through all this frame,
    That by the beauty of the seat,
    We plainly see who made the same.
    Seeing thy seed abides in me,
    Dwell thou in it, and I in thee.
    Henry Vaughan (1622–1695)

    There is thy gold—worse poison to men’s souls,
    Doing more murder in this loathsome world
    Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell.
    I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)