One obstacle to enjoyment of classical theater is the use of archaic word forms. For example, many people are intimidated by the pronouns “thee” and “thou” and their corresponding verbs forms, which are no longer in common usage. Actually, the grammar is fairly easy to explain and understand.

Unlike almost every other European language, modern-day English makes no grammatical distinction between perceived differences of class or social status. Whether I’m addressing a beggar, a king, a beloved niece or the teacher grading me on my final exam, I speak pretty much the same way. It’s impossible to tell just by reading the words “You have it” whether I respect as a superior the person I’m speaking to, or whether I think the person owes that kind of respect to me.

Most other European languages are not like that. They have individual vocabulary and grammar depending on the relationship between the two speakers. In most languages, this involves using the PLURAL form to address a perceived superior. This can create unpleasant social confrontations for those employing the wrong pronoun: using the polite plural form to an intimate or friend sounds strained and unfriendly, while using the familiar singular form with a superior might invite a sharp reprimand or worse.

Up until a few hundred years ago, English was the same way. The second person singular pronoun was “thou/thee/thy” and second person plural was “ye/you/your”. (Many monarchs in England have even referred to themselves in the first person plural. This is known as the Royal We.) Today these forms exist only in a few isolated dialects of English, and of course in classical literature.

Therefore, in scenes between social inequals in Shakespeare plays, the less-privileged person must address the perceived superior using the plural form as a show of respect. This system was already becoming obsolete during Shakespeare’s day, so in many cases his usage is inconsistent.

See the table below for the proper usage. 

PART OF SPEECH	Addressing a group (plural) or a SUPERIOR (singular)	Addressing an INTIMATE or INFERIOR (singular)
NOMINATIVE (subject of the sentence)	you	thou
ACCUSATIVE (direct object of the sentence)	you	thee

Likewise, verbs are conjugated in a unique way for such situations. There is also an archaic ending for third person singular, as demonstrated below:

Second Person Singular, Formal	Second Person Singular, Informal	Third Person Singular
you go	thou goest	he/she/it goeth

As with modern English, many common verbs were irregular:

Second Person Singular , Formal	Second Person Singular , Informal	Third Person Singular
you are	thou art	he/she/it is
you have	thou hast	he/she/it hath
you do	thou dost	he/she/it doth

And now a quick refresher course for those who don’t remember the declension of nouns in Latin 101!

PART OF SPEECH	First Person Singular	Second Person Singular, Formal	Second Person Singular, Informal
NOMINATIVE	I have it.	You have it.	Thou hast it.
ACCUSATIVE	It hath me.	It hath you.	It hath thee.

“Thou” corresponds to “I”, which is the main actor of the sentence, the one performing the action stated in the verb. This is called the NOMINATIVE case in classical languages, although in modern grammar it is called the subject of the sentence.  “Thee” corresponds to “me”, which is the ACCUSATIVE case, which is the main recipient, or the direct object, of the action. The chart below explains the possessive pronouns.

PART OF SPEECH	Addressing a SUPERIOR	Addressing an INTIMATE or INFERIOR
POSSESSIVE (regular)	your	thy (hand)
POSSESSIVE (for nouns beginning with a vowel)	your	thine (eye)

The difference between “thy” and “thine” is exactly analogous to the difference between “a” (hand) and “an” (eye). Applying the same rule to the possessive pronoun may be surprising at first, but there is a well-known precedent in the old song “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”.

Quiz:

Fill in the blanks of this imaginary conversation between a king and a beggar. Use the correct form of the words given in parentheses.

King: What ____ desire? (do you)
Beggar: _____ give me gold? (will you)
King: _____ have gold from my chamberlain. (you shall)
Beggar: I asked _____ chamberlain even now. (your)
King: And how answered he to ____ request? (your)
Beggar: Why, he _____ me a jab in the arm instead. (gave)
King: _____ arm? (Your)
Beggar: Yes, _____ highness. (your)
King: How _____ it fare? (does)
Beggar: I’d feel better had I _____ gold. (your)
(Answer below)

All this may be confusing to those familiar with The Lord’s Prayer:

“Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.”

Wouldn’t God, more than anyone else, be accorded superior status? The short answer is “mistranslation.” One of the earliest Bible translations into English used “thou/thee/thy” for all second person singular pronouns, including God, and “ye/you/your” for second person plural. This left the impression that “thou/thee/thy” was more polite rather than less, and unfortunately, the mistaken impression stuck. Since then, authors unfamiliar with the original conventions have put “thee/thy/thou” into the speeches of period characters, perhaps thinking that it sounds more “historical”. In fact, anyone addressing a nobleman as “Thy Majesty” would very likely soon find his head cut off!

I once ran across a quotation which perfectly summarized the social mechanisms at work. It is an angry rebuke from a self-perceived “superior” directed at one who used the familiar form rather than the polite:

“Don’t ‘thee’ me, thou! I am ‘you’ to thee, thou!”

Here the recipient of this criticism had called the speaker “thee”, implying a status of social equals, or even worse, a status higher than the speaker. This so rankled the speaker as to issue a public correction of their perceived class differences, punctuated twice with the pejorative “thou” for good measure.

Answer to the quiz:

• King: What dost thou desire?
  Beggar: Will you give me gold?
  King: Thou shalt have gold from my chamberlain.
  Beggar: I asked your chamberlain even now.
  King: And how answered he to thy request?
  Beggar: Why, he gaveth me a jab in the arm instead.
  King: Thine arm?
  Beggar: Yes, your highness.
  King: How doth it fare?
• Beggar: I’d feel better had I your gold.

© Kublai Khan Unlimited 2011.