thou

Everyday

1. (old, Bible) Thou is an old word for «you» when speaking to one person, as the subject of a sentence: «Thou art» = «you are». tree →
2. (church) Thou is still used in old prayers and hymns to speak to God, as in the Lord's Prayer: «Our Father, which art in heaven». tree →
3. (informal) «Thou» can also be short for «a thousand», used by some adults about money. tree →

In the lessons

Pupils meet thou in the King James Bible, old hymns, Shakespeare, poems and fairy tales; it tells the reader that the language is old or holy. It goes with old verb forms ending in -st or -t: thou art, thou hast, thou shalt, thou dost. Phrases: «thou shalt not» (the Ten Commandments), «holier than thou» (someone who acts morally better than others).

Examples

• «Thou shalt not steal,» says one of the Ten Commandments. tree →
• «Where art thou?» called the knight. tree →
• The old hymn says, «How great thou art.» tree →
• In Shakespeare's play, the girl says, «Thou art my friend.» tree →
• Stop being so holier-than-thou about it! tree →
• Thou, thee, thy and thine are old ways of saying you and your. tree →
• The car cost him twenty thou. (informal, money) tree →

Note

Old forms: thou (subject, like «I»), thee (object, like «me»), thy (before a word, like «my»), thine (alone, like «mine»). Verbs change: thou art, thou hast, thou didst. In old English «thou» was actually the friendly or intimate form, not the polite one. Rhymes with «now». The money sense «thou» means a thousand.

In Jewish tradition

Used all through the JPS translation for "you" (singular), including when God speaks to a person or a person to God.

Interpretation. Hebrew has a singular "you" in the commandments, which tradition reads as meaning each person is spoken to directly.

Examples

• And thou shalt make settings of gold; (Torah EXO.28.13, JPS 1917) tree →
• Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. (Torah EXO.34.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. (Torah DEU.14.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• Thus shalt thou do six days. (Prophets JOS.6.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• Wilt Thou harass a driven leaf? (Writings JOB.13.25, JPS 1917) tree →
• Declare, if thou hast the understanding. (Writings JOB.38.4, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Old forms: thou (subject, like «I»), thee (object, like «me»), thy (before a word, like «my»), thine (alone, like «mine»). Verbs change: thou art, thou hast, thou didst. In old English «thou» was actually the friendly or intimate form, not the polite one. Rhymes with «now». The money sense «thou» means a thousand.

Early Modern English

Meaning

You, used as the subject when speaking to one person. tree →

Then and now

No longer used; today we say you for both the subject and object forms.

Examples

• And thou shalt make settings of gold; (Torah EXO.28.13, JPS 1917) tree →
• "Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!" (Grimm's Fairy Stories) tree →
• And who canst thou place before the only one? (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887) tree →

Note

Today: you.