Learn English: THOU, THEE, THY, THINE

What is thy bidding, my master? Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? You’ve probably noticed these old forms – THY, THEE, THOU, THINE – appearing in English literature, especially poetry. Even modern works that are set in the past or that are trying to be very formal use these words sometimes. But it’s important to understand what they mean exactly and how the words differ from each other. It’s also important to know about the verb endings that go with them, so here is my explanation. After watching the video, do test your knowledge in the quiz – thou knowest it makes sense! Learn more about the history of the English language with these lessons: Discover the history of English How did the days of the week get their names? English expressions from Shakespeare In this lesson: 00:00 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? 01:52 What does ’thou’ mean? 03:28 What does ’thee’ mean? 03:44 What does ’thy’ mean? 04:06 What does ’thine’ mean? 04:42 What does ’thyself’ mean? 05:16 How ’thou’, ’thee’, ’thy’, and ’thine’ are used in English 07:10 Quotations using ’thou’, ’thee’, ’thy’, ’thine’, ’thyself’ 17:13 Verb Endings: ’art’, ’hast’, ’dost’, ’didst’ 21:27 Modern usage of ’thy’, ’thou’, ’thee’...