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{{short description|English archaic 2nd person singular pronoun}}
{{About|the pronoun}}
{{Redirect|Thee}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:William Shakespeare by John Taylor, edited.jpg|thumb|Most modern English speakers encounter "thou" predominantly in the works of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]; in the works of other Renaissance, medieval and early modern writers; and in the [[King James Bible]] or [[Douay-Rheims Bible]].<ref name=Columbia>[https://archive.org/details/columbiaguidetos00wils_0 <!-- quote=thee. --> "thou, thee, thine, thy (prons.)"], Kenneth G. Wilson, ''The Columbia Guide to Standard American English''. 1993. Retrieved 2 March 2016.</ref><ref name="Pressley">{{cite web |last=Pressley |first=J. M. |url=http://www.bardweb.net/content/thou.html |title=Thou Pesky 'Thou' |website=Shakespeare Resource Centre |date=8 January 2010}}</ref>]]

The word '''''thou''''' ({{IPAc-en|ð|aʊ}}) is a [[grammatical person|second-person]] [[grammatical number|singular]] [[pronoun]] in [[English language|English]]. It is now largely [[archaism|archaic]], having been replaced in most contexts by the word ''[[you]]'', although it remains in use in parts of [[Northern England]] and in [[Modern Scots|Scots]] ({{IPA|/ðu:/}}). ''Thou'' is the [[nominative case|nominative]] form; the [[oblique case|oblique]]/[[objective (grammar)|objective]] form is '''''thee''''' (functioning as both [[accusative case|accusative]] and [[dative case|dative]]); the [[genitive|possessive]] is '''''thy''''' (adjective) or '''''thine''''' (as an adjective before a vowel or as a possessive pronoun); and the [[Reflexive pronoun|reflexive]] is '''''thyself'''''. When ''thou'' is the [[grammatical subject]] of a [[finite verb]] in the [[indicative mood]], the verb form typically ends in ''-(e)st'' (e.g., "thou goest", "thou do(e)st"), but in some cases just ''-t'' (e.g., "thou art"; "thou shalt").

Originally, ''thou'' (in {{langx|ang|þū}}, {{IPA|ang|θuː|pron}}) was simply the singular counterpart to the plural pronoun ''[[ye (pronoun)|ye]]'', derived from an [[Proto-Indo-European language|ancient Indo-European]] root. In [[Middle English]], ''thou'' was sometimes represented with a [[scribal abbreviation]] that put a small "u" over the letter [[thorn (letter)|thorn]]: þͧ (later, in printing presses that lacked this letter, this abbreviation was sometimes rendered as yͧ). Starting in the 1300s, ''thou'' and ''thee'' were used to express familiarity, formality, or contempt, for addressing strangers, superiors, or inferiors, or in situations when indicating singularity to avoid confusion was needed; concurrently,  the plural forms, ''ye'' and ''you'', began to also be used for singular: typically for addressing rulers, superiors, equals, inferiors, parents, younger persons, and significant others.<ref name="MED">{{cite encyclopedia |title=yǒu (pron.) |encyclopedia= Middle English Dictionary |year=2014 |publisher=the Regents of the University of Michigan |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED54032 |access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref>{{clarification|reason=Are the contradictions/overlaps here intentional? Thou and ye/you followed the T-V distinction. So how can both be used to express BOTH superior and inferior relationships?|date=April 2025}} In the 17th century, ''thou'' fell into disuse in the standard language, often regarded as impolite, but persisted, sometimes in an altered form, in [[List of dialects of the English language#Europe|regional dialects]] of [[England]] and [[Scotland]],<ref name="Shorrocks, 433–438">Shorrocks, 433–438.</ref> as well as in the language of such religious groups as the [[Religious Society of Friends|Society of Friends]]. The use of the pronoun is also still present in Christian prayer and in poetry.<ref name="Crawford1997"/>

Early English translations of the Bible used the familiar singular form of the second person, which mirrors common usage trends in other languages. The familiar and singular form is used when speaking to [[God]] in [[French language|French]] (in [[Protestantism in France|Protestantism]] both in past and present, in [[Roman Catholicism in France|Catholicism]] since the post–[[Vatican II]] reforms), [[German language|German]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Scottish Gaelic]] and many others (all of which maintain the use of an informal singular form of the second person in modern speech). In addition, the translators of the [[King James Version]] of the Bible attempted to maintain the distinction found in [[Biblical Hebrew]], [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]] and [[Koine Greek]] between singular and plural second-person pronouns and verb forms, so they used ''thou'', ''thee'', ''thy'', and ''thine'' for singular, and ''ye'', ''you'', ''your'', and ''yours'' for plural.

In standard [[Modern English]], ''thou'' continues to be used in formal religious contexts, in wedding ceremonies ("I thee wed"), in literature that seeks to reproduce archaic language, and in certain fixed phrases such as "[[wikt:fare thee well|fare thee well]]". For this reason, many associate the pronoun with solemnity or formality. 

Many dialects have compensated for the lack of a singular/plural distinction caused by the disappearance of ''thou'' and ''ye'' through the creation of new plural pronouns or pronominals, such as ''[[yinz]]'', ''yous''<ref>{{Cite book |title = A Handbook of Varieties of English: CD-ROM |last = Kortmann |first = Bernd |publisher = Mouton de Gruyter |year = 2004 |isbn = 978-3110175325 |page = 1117}}</ref> and ''[[y'all]]'' or the colloquial ''you guys'' ("you lot" in England). ''Ye'' remains common in some parts of Ireland, but the examples just given vary regionally and are usually restricted to colloquial speech.

==Grammar==
Because ''thou'' has passed out of common use, its traditional forms are often confused by those imitating archaic speech.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Archaic English Grammar -- dan.tobias.name|url=https://dan.tobias.name/frivolity/archaic-grammar.html|access-date=2020-11-02|website=dan.tobias.name}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}

===Declension===
The English [[personal pronoun]]s have standardized [[declension]] according to the following table:{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}
{{Early Modern English personal pronouns (table)}}

===Conjugation===
Verb forms used after ''thou'' generally end in ''-est'' (pronounced {{IPA|/ᵻst/}}) or ''-st'' in the [[indicative mood]] in both the [[present tense|present]] and the [[past tense|past]] [[grammatical tense|tenses]]. These forms are used for both [[Germanic strong verb|strong]] and [[Germanic weak verb|weak verb]]s.

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 (poetry)|meter]].

*to know: ''thou knowest'', thou knewest
*to drive: ''thou drivest'', thou drovest
*to make: ''thou makest'', thou madest
*to love: ''thou lovest'', thou lovedst
*to want: ''thou wantest'', thou wantedst

Modal verbs also have ''-(e)st'' added to their forms:
*can: ''thou canst''
*could: ''thou couldst''
*may: ''thou mayest''
*might: ''thou mightst''
*should: ''thou shouldst''
*would: ''thou wouldst''
*ought to: ''thou oughtest to''

A few verbs have irregular ''thou'' forms:
*to be: ''thou art'' (or ''thou beest''), ''thou wast'' {{IPAc-en|w|ɒ|s|t}} (or subjunctive ''thou wert''; originally ''thou were'')
*to have: ''thou hast'', ''thou hadst''
*to do: ''thou dost'' {{IPAc-en|d|ʌ|s|t}} (or ''thou doest'' in non-[[auxiliary verb|auxiliary]] use) and ''thou didst''
*shall: ''thou shalt''
*will: ''thou wilt''

A few others are not inflected:
*must: ''thou must''

In [[Proto-English]], the second-person singular verb inflection was ''-es''. This came down unchanged{{citation needed|reason= this is a pretty strong claim, please provide support|date= February 2020}} from [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and can be seen in quite distantly related Indo-European languages: [[Russian language|Russian]] знаешь, ''znayesh'', thou knowest; [[Latin]] ''amas'', thou lovest. (This is parallel to the history of the third-person form, in Old English -eþ, Russian, знает, ''znayet'', he knoweth, Latin ''amat'' he loveth.) The {{according to whom|anomalous development|date= February 2020}} from -es to modern English -est, which took place separately at around the same time in the closely related [[German language|German]] and [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]] languages, is understood to be caused by an assimilation of the [[consonant]] of the pronoun, which often followed the verb. This is most readily observed in German: liebes du → liebstu → liebst du (lovest thou).<ref>{{cite book |last=Fennell |first=Barbara A.|title=A history of English: a sociolinguistic approach. |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2001 |page=22}}</ref>

There are some speakers of modern English{{who|date=July 2024}} that use thou/thee but use thee as the subject and conjugate the word with is/was, i.e. ''thee is, thee was, thee has, thee speaks, thee spoke, thee can, thee could''. However this is not considered standard.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}{{clarification needed|reason=What standard?|date=July 2024}}

==== Comparison ====
{|class="wikitable"
|- style="text-align:left"
 ! [[Early Modern English]]
 ! Modern [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]]
 ! [[New High German|Modern German]]
 ! [[Modern Dutch]]
 ! [[Modern English]]
|-
 | Thou hast
 | {{lang|fy|Do hast}} <br /> {{IPA|fy|doː ˈhast|}}
 | {{lang|de|Du hast}} <br /> {{IPA|de|duː ˈhast|}}
 | {{lang|nl|Jij hebt}} <br /> {{IPA|nl|jɛi ˈɦɛpt|}}
 | You have
|-
 | She hath
 | {{lang|fy|Sy hat}} <br /> {{IPA|fy|sɛi ˈhat|}}
 | {{lang|de|Sie hat}} <br /> {{IPA|de|ziː ˈhat|}}
 | {{lang|nl|Zij heeft}} <br /> {{IPA|nl|zɛi ˈɦeːft|}}
 | She has
|-
 | What hast thou?
 | {{lang|fy|Wat hasto?}} <br /> {{IPA|fy|vat ˈhasto|}}
 | {{lang|de|Was hast du?}} <br /> {{IPA|de|vas ˈhast duː|}}
 | {{lang|nl|Wat heb je?}} <br /> {{IPA|nl|ʋɑt ˈɦɛp jə|}}
 | What do you have? (What have you?)
|-
 | What hath she?
 | {{lang|fy|Wat hat sy?}} <br /> {{IPA|fy|vat ˈhat sɛi|}}
 | {{lang|de|Was hat sie?}} <br /> {{IPA|de|vas ˈhat ziː|}}
 | {{lang|nl|Wat heeft zij?}} <br /> {{IPA|nl|ʋɑt ˈɦeːft sɛi|}}
 | What does she have? (What has she?)
|-
 | Thou goest
 | {{lang|fy|Do giest}} <br /> {{IPA|fy|doː ˈɡiəst|}}
 | {{lang|de|Du gehst}} <br /> {{IPA|de|duː ˈɡeːst|}}
 | {{lang|nl|Jij gaat}} <br /> {{IPA|nl|jɛi ˈɣaːt|}}
 | You go
|-
 | Thou doest
 | {{lang|fy|Do dochst}} <br /> {{IPA|fy|doː ˈdoχst|}}
 | {{lang|de|Du tust}} <br /> {{IPA|de|duː ˈtuːst|}}
 | {{lang|nl|Jij doet}} <br /> {{IPA|nl|jɛi ˈdut|}}
 | You do
|-
 | Thou art<br />(variant ''thou beest)''
 | {{lang|fy|Do bist}} <br /> {{IPA|fy|doː ˈbɪst|}}
 | {{lang|de|Du bist}} <br /> {{IPA|de|duː ˈbɪst|}}
 | {{lang|nl|Jij bent}} <br /> {{IPA|nl|jɛi ˈbɛnt|}}
 | You are
|}

In [[Dutch language|Dutch]], the equivalent of "thou", ''du'', also became archaic and fell out of use and was replaced by the Dutch equivalent of "you", ''gij'' (later ''jij'' or ''u''), just as it has in English, with the place of the informal plural taken by ''jullie'' (''[[cf.|compare]]'' English ''y’all'').

In the [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]] and [[Grammatical mood#Imperative|imperative moods]], the ending in ''-(e)st'' is dropped (although it is generally retained in ''thou wert'', the second-person singular past subjunctive of the verb ''to be''). The subjunctive forms are used when a statement is doubtful or contrary to fact; as such, they frequently occur after ''if'' and the poetic ''and''.

:If thou be Johan, I tell it thee, right with a good advice ...;<ref>Middle English carol:
If thou be Johan, I tell it the<br />Ryght with a good aduyce<br />Thou may be glad Johan to be<br />It is a name of pryce.<br /></ref>
:Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart ...<ref>Eleanor Hull, ''[[Be Thou My Vision]]'', 1912 translation of traditional Irish hymn, ''Rob tu mo bhoile, a Comdi cride''.</ref>
:I do wish thou wert a dog, that I might love thee something ...<ref>Shakespeare, ''[[Timon of Athens]]'', act IV, scene 3.</ref>
:And thou bring Alexander and his paramour before the Emperor, I'll be Actaeon ...<ref>[[Christopher Marlowe]], ''[[Doctor Faustus (play)|Dr. Faustus]]'', act IV, scene 2.</ref>
:O WERT thou in the cauld blast, ... I'd shelter thee ...<ref>[[Robert Burns]], ''O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast''(song), lines 1–4.</ref>

In modern regional English dialects that use ''thou'' or some variant, such as in [[Yorkshire dialect#Vocabulary and grammar|Yorkshire]] and [[Lancashire dialect|Lancashire]], it often takes the third person form of the verb ''-s''. This comes from a merging of [[Early Modern English]] second person singular ending ''-st'' and third person singular ending ''-s'' into ''-s'' (the latter a northern [[isogloss|variation]] of ''[[Thorn (letter)|-þ]]'' (''-th'')).

The present [[indicative]] form ''art'' ("''þu eart''") goes back to [[West Saxon dialect (Old English)|West Saxon]] Old English (see [[OED]] ''s.v. be'' IV.18) and eventually became standard, even in the south (''e.g.'' in Shakespeare and the Bible). For its influence also from [[Danelaw|the North]], ''cf.'' [[History of the Icelandic language#The Scandinavian period (550–1050)|Icelandic]] ''þú ert''. The preterite indicative of ''be'' is generally ''thou wast''.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

==Etymology==
''Thou'' originates from [[Old English language|Old English]] {{lang|ang|þū}}, and ultimately via [[Grimm's law]] from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] *''tu'', with the expected [[Germanic language|Germanic]] [[vowel]] lengthening in accented monosyllabic words with an [[open syllable]]. ''Thou'' is therefore [[cognate]] with [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] and [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|þú}}, [[German language|German]] and [[Scandinavian languages|Continental Scandinavian]]<!-- = Danish, Swedish, Norwegian--> {{lang|da|du}}, [[Latin]] and all major [[Romance languages]]<!-- = Aragonese, Aromanian, Asturian, Castilian, Catalan, French, Italian, Leonese, Neapolitan, Occitan, Portuguese, Romanian, Sicilian, Spanish BUT NOT Galician, Lombard, Piedmontese, Rhaeto-Romansh, Sardinian, Venetian http://www.nativlang.com/romance-languages/romance-tables.php?tableName=pronounsPersonal-->, [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] and [[Latvian language|Latvian]] {{lang|ro|tu}} or {{lang|es|tú}}, [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|el|σύ}} ({{transliteration|el|sy}}), [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] ты / ''ty''  or ти / ''ti'', [[Armenian language|Armenian]] {{lang|hy|դու}} ({{transliteration|hy|dow}}/{{transliteration|hy|du}}), [[Hindi]] तू ({{transliteration|hi|tū}}), [[Bengali language|Bengali]]: তুই (''tui''), [[Persian language|Persian]] {{lang|fa|تُو}} ({{transliteration|fa|to}}) and [[Sanskrit]] त्वम् ({{lang|sa-Latn|tvam}}). A cognate form of this pronoun exists in almost every other Indo-European language.<ref>Entries for ''thou'' and *''tu'', in ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]''</ref>

==History==
===Old and Middle English===
[[File:Adam and Eve, thou abbrev.jpg|thumb|right|''þ<sup>u</sup>'', abbreviation for ''thou'', from ''Adam and Eve'', from a ca. 1415 manuscript, England]]
In [[Old English]], ''thou'' was governed by a simple rule: ''thou'' addressed one person, and ''[[ye (pronoun)|ye]]'' more than one. Beginning in the 1300s ''thou'' was gradually replaced by the plural ''ye'' as the form of address for a superior person and later for an equal. For a long time, however, ''thou'' remained the most common form for addressing an inferior person.<ref name="MED"/>

The practice of matching singular and plural forms with informal and formal connotations is called the [[T–V distinction]] and in English is largely due to the influence of French. This began with the practice of addressing [[monarch|kings]] and other [[aristocracy|aristocrats]] in the [[royal we|plural]]. Eventually, this was generalized, as in French, to address any social superior or stranger with a plural pronoun, which was felt to be more polite. In French, ''tu'' was eventually considered either intimate or condescending (and to a stranger, potentially insulting), while the plural form ''vous'' was reserved and formal.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

===General decline in Early Modern English===
Fairly suddenly in the 17th century, ''thou'' began to decline in the standard language (that is, particularly in and around London), often regarded as impolite or ambiguous in terms of politeness. It persisted, sometimes in an altered form, particularly in [[List of dialects of the English language#Europe|regional dialects]] of [[England]] and [[Scotland]] farther from London,<ref name="Shorrocks, 433–438"/> as well as in the language of such religious groups as the [[Religious Society of Friends|Society of Friends]]. Reasons commonly maintained by modern linguists as to the decline of ''thou'' in the 17th century include the increasing identification of ''you'' with "polite society" and the uncertainty of using ''thou'' for inferiors versus ''you'' for superiors (with ''you'' being the safer default) amidst the rise of a new middle class.<ref>Nordquist, Richard (2016). "[https://www.thoughtco.com/notes-on-second-person-pronouns-1692677 Notes on Second-Person Pronouns: Whatever Happened to 'Thou' and 'Thee'?]" ''ThoughtCo''. About, Inc.</ref>

In the 18th century, [[Samuel Johnson]], in ''A Grammar of the English Tongue'', wrote: "in the language of ceremony ... the second person plural is used for the second person singular", implying that ''thou'' was still in everyday familiar use for the second-person singular, while ''you'' could be used for the same grammatical person, but only for formal contexts. However, Samuel Johnson himself was born and raised not in the south of England, but in the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] (specifically, [[Lichfield]], Staffordshire), where the usage of ''thou'' persists until the present day (see below), so it is not surprising that he would consider it entirely ordinary and describe it as such. By contrast, for most speakers of [[Southern English English|southern British English]], ''thou'' had already fallen out of everyday use, even in familiar speech, by sometime around 1650.<ref>Entry for ''thou'' in ''[[Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage]]''.</ref> ''Thou'' persisted in a number of religious, literary and regional contexts, and those pockets of continued use of the pronoun tended to undermine the obsolescence of the T–V distinction.

One notable consequence of the decline in use of the second person singular pronouns ''thou'', ''thy'', and ''thee'' is the obfuscation of certain sociocultural elements of [[Early Modern English]] texts, such as many character interactions in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s plays, which were mostly written from 1589 to 1613. Although Shakespeare is far from consistent in his writings, his characters primarily tend to use ''thou'' (rather than ''you'') when addressing another who is a social subordinate, a close friend or family member, or a hated wrongdoer.<ref>Atkins, Carl D. (ed.) (2007). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=a8buSTBjFyUC&q=%22thou...was...the+pronoun%22 Shakespeare's Sonnets: With Three Hundred Years of Commentary]''. Associated University Presses. p. 55.</ref>

==Usage==
===Use as a verb===
{{wiktionary pipe|thou#Verb|thou (verb)}}
Many European languages contain verbs meaning "to address with the informal pronoun", such as German {{lang|de|duzen}}, French {{lang|fr|tutoyer}}, Spanish {{lang|es|tutear}} and {{lang|es|vosear}}, Swedish {{lang|sv|dua}}, Dutch {{lang|nl|jijen en jouen}}, Ukrainian {{lang|uk|тикати}} ({{translit|uk|tykaty}}), Russian {{lang|ru|тыкать}} ({{translit|ru|tykat'}}), Polish {{lang|pl|tykać}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|tutui}}, Hungarian {{lang|hu|tegezni}}, Finnish {{lang|fi|sinutella}}, etc. Additionally, the Norwegian noun {{lang|no|dus}} refers to the practice of using this familiar form of address instead of the {{lang|no|De}}/{{lang|no|Dem}}/{{lang|no|Deres}} formal forms in common use. Although uncommon in English, the usage did appear, such as at the trial of Sir [[Walter Raleigh]] in 1603, when Sir [[Edward Coke]], prosecuting for the Crown, reportedly sought to [[insult]] Raleigh by saying,

:''I thou thee, thou traitor!''<ref>Reported, among many other places, in [[H. L. Mencken]], ''[[The American Language]]'' (1921), ch. 9, ss. 4., [http://www.bartleby.com/185/41.html "The pronoun"].</ref>
::In modern English: ''I "thou" you, you traitor!''

here using ''thou'' as a verb meaning ''to call (someone) "thou" or "thee"''. Although the practice never took root in Standard English, it occurs in dialectal speech in the north of England. A formerly common refrain in [[Yorkshire dialect]] for admonishing children who misused the familiar form was:

:''Don't thee tha them as thas thee!'' 
::In modern English: ''Don't you "tha" those who "tha" you!''
::In other words:  ''Don't use the familiar form "tha" towards those who refer to you as "tha".'' ("tha" being the local dialectal variant of "thou")

And similar in [[Lancashire dialect]]:

:''Don't thee me, thee; I's you to thee!''
::In standard English: ''Don't "thee" me, you! I'm "you" to you!''

===Religious uses===
====Christianity====
Many conservative Christians use "Thee, Thou, Thy and Thine when addressing God" in [[Christian prayer|prayer]]; in the [[Plymouth Brethren]] catechism ''Gathering Unto His Name'', Norman Crawford explains the practice:<ref name="Crawford1997"/>
{{blockquote|The English language does contain reverential and respectful forms of the second person pronoun which allow us to show reverence in speaking to God. It has been a very long tradition that these reverential forms are used in prayer. In a day of irreverence, how good to display in every way that we can that "He (God) is not a man as I am" (Job 9:32).<ref name="Crawford1997">{{cite book |last1=Crawford |first1=Norman |title=Gathering Unto His Name |date=1997 |publisher=GTP |pages=178–179 |language=English}}</ref>}}
When referring to God, "thou" (as with other pronouns) is often capitalized, e.g. "For Thou hast delivered my soul from death" ({{Bibleverse|Psalm|56:12-13|KJ21}}).<ref>{{cite book|last=Shewan|first=Ed|title=Applications of Grammar: Principles of Effective Communication|year=2003|publisher=Liberty Press|isbn=1930367287|pages=112}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Elwell|first=Celia|title=Practical Legal Writing for Legal Assistants|year=1996|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=0314061150|pages=71}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults|year=2004|publisher=Our Sunday Visitor Publishing|isbn=1592760945|pages=8}}</ref>

As [[William Tyndale]] [[Tyndale Bible|translated the Bible]] into English in the early 16th century, he preserved the singular and plural distinctions that he found in his [[Biblical Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Koine Greek|Greek]] originals. He used ''thou'' for the singular and ''ye'' for the plural regardless of the relative status of the speaker and the [[Interlocutor (linguistics)|addressee]]. Tyndale's usage was standard for the period and mirrored that found in the earlier [[Wycliffe's Bible]] and the later [[Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]]. But as the use of ''thou'' in non-dialect English began to decline in the 18th century,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jespersen|first1=Otto|author-link1=Otto Jespersen|title=Progress in Language|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924026448203#page/n279/mode/2up|year=1894|location=New York|publisher=Macmillan|page=260}}</ref> its meaning nonetheless remained familiar from the widespread use of the latter translation.<ref>David Daniell, ''William Tyndale: A Biography''. (Yale, 1995) {{ISBN|0-300-06880-8}}. See also David Daniell, ''The Bible in English: Its History and Influence''. (Yale, 2003) {{ISBN|0-300-09930-4}}.</ref> The [[Revised Standard Version]] of the Bible, which first appeared in 1946, retained the pronoun ''thou'' exclusively to address [[God]], using ''you'' in other places. This was done to preserve the tone, at once intimate and reverent, that would be familiar to those who knew the King James Version and read the [[Psalms]] and similar text in devotional use.<ref>[http://www.ncccusa.org/newbtu/aboutrsv.html Preface to the ''Revised Standard Version''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518063139/http://www.ncccusa.org/newbtu/aboutrsv.html |date=2016-05-18 }} 1971</ref> The [[New American Standard Bible]] (1971) made the same decision, but the revision of 1995 (New American Standard Bible, Updated edition) reversed it. Similarly, the 1989 [[Revised English Bible]] dropped all forms of ''thou'' that had appeared in the earlier [[New English Bible]] (1970). The [[New Revised Standard Version]] (1989) omits ''thou'' entirely and claims that it is incongruous and contrary to the original intent of the use of ''thou'' in [[Bible translations|Bible translation]] to adopt a distinctive pronoun to address the Deity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncccusa.org/newbtu/reader.html |title=NRSV: To the Reader |publisher=Ncccusa.org |date=2007-02-13 |access-date=2010-03-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206062332/http://www.ncccusa.org/newbtu/reader.html |archive-date=2010-02-06 }}</ref>

The [[Book of Common Prayer (1662)|1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'']], which is still an authorized form of worship in the [[Church of England]] and much of the [[Anglican Communion]], also uses the word ''thou'' to refer to the singular second person.<ref>[http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/bcp/ ''The Book of Common Prayer'']. The Church of England. Retrieved on 12 September 2007.</ref>{{Synthesis inline|date=April 2022}}

[[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]] traditionally used ''thee'' as an ordinary pronoun as part of their [[testimony of simplicity]]—a practice continued by certain [[Conservative Friends]];<ref name="OYM2022">{{cite web |title=Q: What about the funny Quaker talk? Do you still do that? |url=https://www.conservativefriend.org/faq.htm |publisher=Stillwater Monthly Meeting of Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends |access-date=10 April 2022 |language=English |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809211604/https://www.conservativefriend.org/faq.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> the stereotype has them saying ''thee'' for both nominative and accusative cases.<ref>See, for example, [http://www.bartelby.net/248/456.html ''The Quaker Widow''] by [[Bayard Taylor]]</ref> This was started at the beginning of the Quaker movement by [[George Fox]], who called it "plain speaking", as an attempt to preserve the [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]] familiarity associated with the pronoun. Most Quakers have abandoned this usage. At its beginning, the Quaker movement was particularly strong in the northwestern areas of England and particularly in the [[north Midlands]] area. The preservation of ''thee'' in Quaker speech may relate to this history.<ref>{{cite book|first=David Hackett |last=Fischer|author-link =David Hackett Fischer | title=[[Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America]] |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1991|isbn=0-19-506905-6}}</ref> Modern Quakers who choose to use this manner of "plain speaking" often use the "thee" form without any corresponding change in verb form, for example, ''is thee'' or ''was thee''.<ref name="Quaker Thee">{{cite journal |first=Ezra Kempton |last=Maxfield |title=Quaker 'Thee' and Its History |journal=American Speech |volume=1 |issue=12 |year=1926 |pages=638–644 |doi=10.2307/452011 |jstor=452011 }}</ref>

In [[Latter-day Saint]] prayer tradition, the terms "thee" and "thou" are always and exclusively used to address [[God in Mormonism|God]], as a mark of respect.<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Oaks |first= Dallin H. |author-link= Dallin H. Oaks |title= The Language of Prayer |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1993/05/the-language-of-prayer?lang=eng |journal= [[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |date=May 1983}}</ref>

====Islam and Baháʼí Faith====
In many of the Quranic translations, particularly those compiled by the [[Ahmadiyya]], the terms ''thou'' and ''thee'' are used. One particular example is [[The Holy Quran - Arabic Text and English translation]], translated by [[Maulvi Sher Ali]].<ref>{{cite book |isbn=1-85372-314-2 |publisher=Islam International, Islamabad |location=Tilford, Surrey, UK |url=https://www.alislam.org/quran/Holy-Quran-English.pdf |title=The Holy Quran, English Translation |date=1989 |archive-date=2016-12-26 |access-date=2014-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226091419/https://www.alislam.org/quran/Holy-Quran-English.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the English translations of the [[Baháʼí literature|scripture]] of the [[Baháʼí Faith]], the terms ''thou'' and ''thee'' are also used.  [[Shoghi Effendi]], the head of the religion in the first half of the 20th century, adopted a style that was somewhat removed from everyday discourse when translating the texts from their original [[Arabic]] or [[Persian language|Persian]] to capture some of the poetic and metaphorical nature of the text in the original languages and to convey the idea that the text was to be considered holy.<ref>{{Cite book | first = Diana | last = Malouf | chapter = The Vision of Shoghi Effendi | title = Proceedings of the Association for Baháʼí Studies, Ninth Annual Conference | date = November 1984 | location = Ottawa, Canada | pages = 129–139 }}</ref>

===Literary uses===

====Shakespeare====
Like his contemporaries, [[William Shakespeare]] uses ''thou'' both in the intimate, French-style sense, and also to emphasize differences of rank, but he is by no means consistent in using the word, and friends and lovers sometimes call each other ''ye'' or ''you'' as often as they call each other ''thou'',<ref>{{cite web
 | url=http://www.shaksper.net/archives/1993/0938.html
 | author=Cook, Hardy M.
 | title=You/Thou in Shakespeare's Work
 | publisher=SHAKSPER: The Global, Electronic Shakespeare Conference
 | year=1993
 | display-authors=etal
 | access-date=2004-12-04
 | archive-date=2007-02-25
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225013204/http://www.shaksper.net/archives/1993/0938.html
 | url-status=dead
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference
 | first = Clara
 | last = Calvo
 | title = 'Too wise to woo peaceably': The Meanings of Thou in Shakespeare's Wooing-Scenes
 | book-title = Actas del III Congreso internacional de la Sociedad española de estudios renacentistas ingleses (SEDERI) / Proceedings of the III International Conference of the Spanish Society for English Renaissance studies
 | pages = 49–59
 | publisher = SEDERI
 | year = 1992
 | editor = Maria Luisa Danobeitia
 | location = Granada
}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference
 | first=Mazzon
 | last=Gabriella
 | title=Shakespearean 'thou' and 'you' Revisited, or Socio-Affective Networks on Stage
 | book-title = Early Modern English: Trends, Forms, and Texts
 | editor = Carmela Nocera Avila| location = Fasano
 | publisher = Schena
 | year=1992
 | pages = 121–36|display-editors=etal}}</ref> sometimes in ways that can be analysed for meaning, but often apparently at random.

For example, in the following passage from ''[[Henry IV, part 1|Henry IV]]'', Shakespeare has [[Falstaff]] use both forms with Henry. Initially using "you" in confusion on waking he then switches to a comfortable and intimate "thou".

:'''Prince:''' Thou art so fat-witted with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldest truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? ...

:'''Falstaff:''' Indeed, you come near me now, Hal ... And, I [[prithee]], sweet wag, when thou art a king, as God save thy Grace{{spaced ndash}}Majesty, I should say; for grace thou wilt have none&nbsp;–

While in ''[[Hamlet]]'', Shakespeare uses discordant second person pronouns to express Hamlet's antagonism towards his mother.

:'''Queen Gertrude:''' Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. ''[she means King Claudius, Hamlet's uncle and stepfather]''

:'''Hamlet:''' Mother, you have my father much offended. ''[he means King Hamlet, his late father]''

====More recent uses====
Except where everyday use survives in some regions of England,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-did-we-stop-using-thou|title=Why Did We Stop Using 'Thou'?}}</ref> the air of informal familiarity once suggested by the use of ''thou'' has disappeared; it is used often for the opposite effect with solemn [[ritual]] occasions, in readings from the ''King James Bible'', in Shakespeare and in formal literary compositions that intentionally seek to echo these older styles. Since becoming obsolete in most dialects of spoken English, it has nevertheless been used by more recent writers to address exalted beings such as God,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wyllie.lib.virginia.edu:8086/perl/toccer-new?id=RsvPsal.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=90&division=div1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813193259/http://wyllie.lib.virginia.edu:8086/perl/toccer-new?id=RsvPsal.sgm&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=90&division=div1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2004 |title=Psalm 90 |access-date=May 23, 2017 }} from the [[Revised Standard Version]]</ref> a [[skylark]],<ref>[http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/webstuff/poetry/Shelley-OdetoaSkylar.html ''Ode to a Skylark''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104055626/http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/webstuff/poetry/Shelley-OdetoaSkylar.html |date=2009-01-04 }} by [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]]</ref> [[Achilles]],<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/166/38.html ''The Iliad''], translated by [[E. H. Blakeney]], 1921</ref> and even ''[[Thor (Marvel Comics)|The Mighty Thor]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://paratime.ca/mv1/avengers/thor/thor528.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917135334/http://www.paratime.ca/mv1/avengers/thor/thor528.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 17, 2003 |title=The Mighty Thor |access-date=May 23, 2017}} 528</ref> In ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'', [[Darth Vader]] addresses the [[Palpatine|Emperor]] with the words: "What is thy bidding, my master?" In Leonard Cohen's song "[[Bird on the Wire]]", he promises his beloved that he will reform, saying "I will make it all up to thee."  In Diana Ross's song, "[[Upside Down (Diana Ross song)|Upside Down]]", (written by [[Chic (band)|Chic]]'s [[Nile Rodgers]] and [[Bernard Edwards]]) there is the lyric "Respectfully I say to thee I'm aware that you're cheatin'." In "[[Will You Be There]]", [[Michael Jackson]] sings, "Hold me / Like the River Jordan / And I will then say to thee / You are my friend." Notably, both Ross's and Jackson's lyrics combine ''thee'' with the usual form ''you''.

The converse—the use of the second person singular ending ''-est'' for the third person—also occurs ("So sayest Thor!"―spoken by Thor). This usage often shows up in modern [[parody]] and [[pastiche]]<ref>See, for example, [[Rob Liefeld]], "Awaken the Thunder" (Marvel Comics, ''[[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]]'', vol. 2, issue 1, cover date Nov. 1996, part of the ''[[Heroes Reborn (1996 comic)|Heroes Reborn]]'' storyline.)</ref> in an attempt to make speech appear either archaic or formal. The forms ''thou'' and ''thee'' are often transposed.

==Current usage==
''You'' is now the standard English second-person pronoun and encompasses both the singular and plural senses. In some dialects, however, ''thou'' has persisted,<ref name="northern_england">{{cite journal | title='You' and 'Thou' in Northern England | first=William | last=Evans | journal=South Atlantic Bulletin | volume=34 | issue=4 |date=November 1969 | pages=17–21 | doi=10.2307/3196963 | publisher=South Atlantic Modern Language Association | jstor=3196963}}</ref> and in others thou is retained for poetic and/or literary use. It also survives as a [[fossil word]] in the commonly used phrase "holier-than-thou".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of HOLIER-THAN-THOU|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holier-than-thou|access-date=2020-08-06|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref>

===Persistence of second-person singular===
In traditional dialects, ''thou'' is used in the English counties of [[Cumberland]], [[Westmorland]], [[County Durham|Durham]], [[Lancashire]], [[Yorkshire]], [[Staffordshire]], [[Derbyshire]], and some western parts of [[Nottinghamshire]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Trudgill|title=The Dialects of England|date=21 January 2000|isbn=978-0631218159|page=93|publisher=Wiley }}</ref> The [[Survey of Anglo-Welsh Dialects]], which began in 1968,<ref>{{cite book|page=Foreword|last=Parry|first=David|title=A Grammar and Glossary of the Conservative Anglo-Welsh Dialects of Rural Wales|year=1999|publisher=The National Centre for English Cultural Tradition|url=https://archive.org/details/start-of-survey-of-anglo-welsh-dialects/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref> found that ''thou'' persisted in scattered sites across [[Clwyd]], [[Dyfed]], [[Powys]], and [[West Glamorgan]].<ref>{{cite book|page=108|last=Parry|first=David|title=A Grammar and Glossary of the Conservative Anglo-Welsh Dialects of Rural Wales|year=1999|publisher=The National Centre for English Cultural Tradition|url=https://archive.org/details/sawd-morphology-and-syntax/page/108/mode/2up}}</ref> Such dialects normally also preserve distinct verb forms for the singular second person: for example, ''thee coost'' (standard English: ''you could'', archaic: ''thou couldst''), in northern Staffordshire. Throughout rural Yorkshire, the old distinction between nominative and objective is preserved.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} The possessive is often written as ''thy'' in local dialect writings, but is pronounced as an unstressed ''tha'', and the possessive pronoun has in modern usage almost exclusively followed other English dialects in becoming ''yours'' or the local{{Specify|date=September 2008}} word ''your'n'' (from ''your one''):{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

{| class=wikitable
!
||
!Nominative
!Objective
!Genitive
!Possessive
|-
!Second person
||''singular''
| style="background:#ccc;"|tha
| style="background:#ccc;"|thee
| style="background:#ccc;"|thy (tha)
| style="background:#ccc;"|yours / your'n
|}

The apparent incongruity between the archaic nominative, objective, and [[genitive]] forms of this pronoun on the one hand, and the modern possessive form on the other, may be a signal that the linguistic drift of Yorkshire dialect is causing ''tha'' to fall into disuse, although a measure of local pride in the dialect may be counteracting this.

Some other variants are specific to certain areas: In [[Sheffield]], the initial consonant was pronounced as /d/, which led to the nickname of the "dee-dahs" for people from Sheffield.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoddart|first1=Jana|last2=Upton|first2=Clive|last3=Widdowson|first3=J.&nbsp;D.&nbsp;A.|year=1999|chapter=Sheffield dialect in the 1990s: revisiting the concept of NORMs|page=79|title=Urban Voices|location=London|publisher=Arnold}}</ref> In Lancashire and West Yorkshire, ''ta'' {{IPA|[tə]}} was used as an unstressed shortening of ''thou'', which can be found in the song "[[On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at]]", although [[K.M. Petyt]] found this form to have been largely displaced from urban West Yorkshire in his 1970-1 fieldwork.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Petyt|first=Keith M.|author-link=K. M. Petyt|year=1985|title='Dialect' and 'Accent' in Industrial West Yorkshire|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=9027279497|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0skjSvKRQb4C|page=375}}</ref>

In rural North [[Lancashire]] between Lancaster and the [[North Yorkshire]] border ''tha'' is preserved in colloquial phrases such as "What would ''tha'' like for ''thi'' tea?" (What would you like for your dinner), and {{"'}}appen ''tha'' waint" ("perhaps you won't"{{spaced ndash}}''happen'' being the [[dialect]] word for ''perhaps'') and "''tha'' knows" (you know). This usage in Lancashire is becoming rare, except for elderly and rural speakers.

A well-known routine by comedian [[Peter Kay]], from [[Bolton, Greater Manchester]] (historically in Lancashire), features the phrase "Has tha nowt moist?”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP-p6H0E0QU |title=Has tha nowt moist - Youtube|website=[[YouTube]] |date=20 March 2012 }}</ref>
(Have you got nothing moist?).

The use of the word "thee" in the song "[[I Predict a Riot]]" by [[Leeds]] band [[Kaiser Chiefs]] ("Watching the people get lairy / is not very pretty, I tell thee") caused some comment<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/news/top5/2005/09/29/25044.shtml |title=BBC ''Top of the Pops'' web page |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2005-09-29 |access-date=2010-03-18|archive-date=2010-06-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618075108/http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/news/top5/2005/09/29/25044.shtml}}</ref> by people who were unaware that the word is still in use in the [[Yorkshire dialect and accent|Yorkshire dialect]].

The word "thee" is also used in the song [[Upside Down (Diana Ross song)|Upside Down]] "Respectfully, I say to thee / I'm aware that you're cheating".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nilerodgers.com/legacy/LyricLibrary/Lyrics/UpsideDown.aspx|title=Nile Rodgers Official Website|access-date=2020-10-22|archive-date=2024-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201202857/http://www.nilerodgers.com/legacy/LyricLibrary/Lyrics/UpsideDown.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The use of the phrase "tha knows" has been widely used in various songs by [[Arctic Monkeys]], a band from High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. [[Alex Turner (musician)|Alex Turner]], the band's lead singer, has also often replaced words with "tha knows" during live versions of the songs.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

The use persists somewhat in the [[West Country dialects]], albeit somewhat affected. Some of [[the Wurzels]]' songs include "Drink Up Thy [[Cider|Zider]]" and "Sniff Up Thy Snuff".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Cider-drinkers-target-core-audience-Bristol/article-1966267-detail/article.html |title=Cider drinkers target core audience in Bristol |work=Bristol Evening Post |date=April 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405190846/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Cider-drinkers-target-core-audience-Bristol/article-1966267-detail/article.html |archive-date=2010-04-05 |access-date=April 2, 2010 |postscript=,}} and [http://www.wurzelmania.co.uk/ Wurzelmania.] somersetmade ltd. Retrieved on 12 September 2007.</ref>

''Thoo'' has also been used in the [[Orcadian dialect|Orcadian]] [[Scots language|Scots]] dialect in place of the singular informal ''thou''.<ref>https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/71</ref> In [[Shetland dialect]], the other form of [[Insular Scots]], ''du'' and ''dee'' are used. The word "thou" has been reported in the [[North Northern Scots]] [[Cromarty dialect]] as being in common use in the first half of the 20th century and by the time of its extinction only in occasional use.<ref>[http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/download/files/The%20Cromarty%20Fisherfolk%20Dialect.pdf  The Cromarty Fisherfolk Dialect] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202061539/http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/download/files/The%20Cromarty%20Fisherfolk%20Dialect.pdf |date=2015-12-02 }}, Am Baile, page 5</ref>

==Modern colloquial replacements==
Many dialects have compensated for the lack of a singular/plural distinction caused by the disappearance of ''thou'' and ''ye'' through the creation of new plural pronouns or pronominals, such as ''[[yinz]]'', or ''[[you guys]]'', ''[[yous]]'' by some Austalians and in what are generally considered working class dialects in and near cities in the northeastern United States,<ref>{{Cite book |title = A Handbook of Varieties of English: CD-ROM |last = Kortmann |first = Bernd |publisher = Mouton de Gruyter |year = 2004 |isbn = 978-3110175325 |page = 1117}}</ref> ''[[y'all]]'' in the [[Southern United States]], and "[[you lot]]" in England. ''Ye'' remains common in some parts of Ireland, but the examples just given vary regionally and are usually restricted to colloquial speech. The forms vary across the English-speaking world and between literature and the spoken language.<ref>{{cite book
 | title=From Elfland to Poughkeepsie
 | author=Le Guin, Ursula K.
 | author-link = Ursula K. Le Guin
 | publisher = Pendragon Press
 |date=June 1973
 | isbn=0-914010-00-X}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[T–V distinction]]

== Citations ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== General and cited references ==
* Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable. ''A History of the English Language'', 5th ed. {{ISBN|0-13-015166-1}}
* Burrow, J. A., Turville-Petre, Thorlac. ''A Book of Middle English''. {{ISBN|0-631-19353-7}}
* Daniel, David. ''The Bible in English: Its History and Influence''. {{ISBN|0-300-09930-4}}.
* {{cite journal|last=Shorrocks|first=Graham|title=Case Assignment in Simple and Coordinate Constructions in Present-Day English|journal=American Speech|volume=67|issue=4|year=1992|pages=432–444|doi=10.2307/455850|jstor=455850}}
* Smith, Jeremy. ''A Historical Study of English: Form, Function, and Change''. {{ISBN|0-415-13272-X}}
* "Thou, ''pers. pron., 2nd sing.''" Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1989). [http://dictionary.oed.com/ ''Oxford English Dictionary''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/ |date=2006-06-25 }}.
* Trudgill, Peter. (1999) Blackwell Publishing. ''Dialects of England''. {{ISBN|0-631-21815-7}}

==Further reading==
*Brown, Roger and Gilman, Albert. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bVG5XCa1DkkC&dq=Brown+Gilman++Thou+Shakespeare&pg=PA156 ''The Pronouns of Power and Solidarity''], 1960, reprinted in: ''Sociolinguistics: the Essential Readings'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2003, {{ISBN|0-631-22717-2|978-0-631-22717-5}}
*Byrne, St. Geraldine. ''Shakespeare's use of the pronoun of address: its significance in characterization and motivation'', Catholic University of America, 1936 (reprinted Haskell House, 1970) {{OCLC|2560278}}.
*Quirk, Raymond. ''Shakespeare and the English Language'', in Kenneth Muir and Sam Schoenbaum, eds, A New Companion to Shakespeare Studies*, 1971, Cambridge UP
*Wales, Katie. ''Personal Pronouns in Present-Day English''. {{ISBN|0-521-47102-8}}
*Walker, Terry. ''Thou and you in early modern English dialogues: trials, depositions, and drama comedy'', John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007, {{ISBN|90-272-5401-X|9789027254016}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|thou|thy|thine|thee|thyself|art}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-thou-article.ogg|date=2007-09-11}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15097/15097-h/15097-h.htm ''A Grammar of the English Tongue''] by [[Samuel Johnson]] – includes description of 18th century use
* [http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/dialect/ Contemporary use of ''thou'' in Yorkshire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716060325/http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/dialect/ |date=2007-07-16 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050107082747/http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000208 ''Thou'']: The Maven's Word of the Day
* [http://www.shaksper.net/archives/1993/0938.html You/Thou in Shakespeare's Work] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225013204/http://www.shaksper.net/archives/1993/0938.html |date=2007-02-25 }} (archived forum discussion)
* [http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/tchg/lit/adv/shak.gram.html ''A Note on Shakespeare's Grammar''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523184427/http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/tchg/lit/adv/shak.gram.html |date=2007-05-23 }} by Seamus Cooney
* [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1976/01/the-language-of-formal-prayer?lang=eng The Language of Formal Prayer by Don E. Norton, Jr.] - LDS

{{History of English}}
{{Middle English personal pronouns}}

[[Category:Archaic English words and phrases]]
[[Category:English grammar]]
[[Category:English words]]
[[Category:Etiquette]]
[[Category:King James Version]]
[[Category:Middle English personal pronouns]]
[[Category:Personal pronouns]]