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.
Verb forms used after
thou generally end in
-(e)st in the
indicative mood in both the
present and the
past tenses. These forms are used for both
strong and
weak verbs.
Typical examples of the standard present and past tense forms follow. The
e in the ending is optional; early English spelling had not yet been standardized. In verse, the choice about whether to use the
e often depended upon considerations of
meter.
- to know: thou knowest, thou knewest
- to drive: thou drivest, thou drovest
- to make: thou makest, thou madest
- to love: thou lovest, thou lovedest
A few verbs have irregular
thou forms:
- to be: thou art (or thou beest), thou wast (or thou wert; originally thou were)
- to have: thou hast, thou hadst
- to do: thou dost /dʌst/ (or thou doest in non-auxiliary use) and thou didst
- shall: thou shalt
- will: thou wilt
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