»
Main Forums
»
English Workshop
»
Thee and thou, Thy and Thine
| English Workshop |
|
Thee and thou, Thy and Thine |
|
|
Poeminister Senior Member
since 2000-02-26
Posts 1862Regina SK; Canada |
What are the specific grammatical differences between thee and thou, and the differences between thy and thine, I usually have a natural impulse with their usage but get them mixed up occassionally. Are they interchangable sometimes? |
||
| © Copyright 2000 Kevin Rainbow - All Rights Reserved | |||
|
Severn Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-17
Posts 7704 |
Hmmm.... er... K the English Major thinks to her one lone shakespeare paper... umm well Why art thou plaguing me thus!? (Actually I never studied thees and thous and whatnots lol...they are pains...) I believe that thee = you/yourself and thou = yours. So thee is more a pronoun and thou is more of a possessive nature. Hm...so actually, after having run a few sentences through my head I think I am talking rubbish... I'll be back later - for I know they are not technicially supposed to be interchangable...I mean - c'mon - it's English  Now I want to know. I also hate being wrong...heh  K |
||
|
Not A Poet Member Elite
since 1999-11-03
Posts 3885Oklahoma, USA |
Well, for thee and thou, it is a matter of case. That is, thou is subjective and thee is objective. Thou and thee are sort of the second person equivalent of he and him. Examples are: Thou art happy. I am happy for thee. I'm not quite so sure about thy and thine but I seem to recall they are older versions of your and yours, used somewhat like my and mine but again for the second person. Examples: Is that thy book. The book is thine. Hope this helps, that is if it is correct. Pete |
||
|
Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
http://www.oseda.missouri.edu/~kate/guardians/gailsden/thees.html http://www.bartleby.com/185/41.html |
||
|
Ian Llewellyn ap-Griffith Member
since 2000-02-12
Posts 197Cincinnati, Oh, U.S.A. |
To answer your question concisely: Thee can be used when one is talking about someone; as in: 'I saw thee yesterday' (objective case). Thou can be used when addressing someone; as in: 'How art thou?' (nominative case) Thy and thine are both possessive. One uses thy when the subjet or object begins with a consanant; as in: 'Thy cart has overturned.'. Thine is used when the subjet or object begins with a vowel; as in: 'Thine ears are huge!'. Thine is also used when it ends a sentence; as in: 'Which half is thine?' or 'This half is thine!'. I hope this clears up your confusion. Eight years in the Ren Fest taught me something! Ian Sing while you may -The Prophet Qa'sepel Your pain is for you alone, As it is, As it was, As it will be forever, Amen -The Prophet Qa'sepel [This message has been edited by Ian Llewellyn ap-Griffith (edited 07-21-2001).] |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||
