DO read: elizabethan english

Okay, I am going to be REALLY annoying in this post. But I am called to rise to grammatical duty!

If you did not know already, I am a dork.

Lately I have witnessed many, MANY people (in most cases, dear friends to whom I mean no offense!) MISUSING Elizabethan verb forms in their posts and comments. And it bugs me so I am going to compose a little guide here for you all. -_-

First, this isn't something as a response to any fellow bloggers' recent posts, but the form of English dating to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1559-1603, the form that Shakespeare used, is called Elizabethan English. NOT "Old English". I've heard many people sayings things like, "It's so hard to understand Shakespeare's Old English." If you want to read Old English, you will have to go about a thousand years before Shakespeare and plod through Beowulf. English that looks like our English except for thees, thous, and differing verb endings is NOT Old English, it is Elizabethan. *hrmph* Elizabethan English is actually considered early Modern English. Again, I'm just a grammatical snob and mean no offense.

Proceeding.

THOU is the subject form of the second person pronoun. Use it when it is the subject of the verb. Example: Thou art a fiend. In this sentence, THOU is the subject, the thing doing the action. The verb is "to be", and THOU is doing the "be-ing". In Elizabethan English, THOU was used to denote familiarity or affection, while the other second person pronoun YOU was used for strangers. If I were to address Mogget in Elizabethan, I would call her THOU. If I were to address the random guy walking down the hallway, I would call him YOU.

The plural of thou is ye or you. The possessive is THY when followed by a consonant and THINE when followed by a vowel. Example: Thy book - thine apple. The same works for the possessive "my" - my book, mine apple. The plural of the formal form of the second person pronoun is your or yours.

THEE is the object form of the second person pronoun. Use it when it is the direct or indirect object of the verb. Example: I smite thee. In this sentence, THEE is RECIEVING the smiting as the direct object of the verb "to smite". For an example of THEE as an indirect object, look here: I give the apple to thee. The apple is the direct object, and THEE is the indirect object because it is recieving the direct object.

Now for verbs. o-o

I will just post an example of a verb chart of regular verb, then explain more generic verb endings.


TO RUN

Present tense:
I run
Thou runnest
You run
He/she/it runneth

Past tense:
I ran
You ran
Thou didst run
He/she/it ran

Future tense:
I will run
Thou wilt run
You will run


When using "THOU" as the subject of your verb, as "EST" or "ST" to the end of the verb. "You smite" turns therefore into "thou smitest" and such.

When using "HE", "SHE", or "IT" as the subject of your verb, add "ETH" or "TH" to the end of the verb. "He smite" turns into "He smiteth", for example.

When using "I" as the subject of your verb, it is the same as in our daily English. I run, I smite.


Here are some irregular verbs:

TO BE
I am
Thou art
He/she/it is
PAST TENSE:
I was
Thou wert

TO DO
I do
Thou dost
He/she/it doth

TO HAVE
I have
Thou hast
He/she/it hath

Another point of note: DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS as a general rule. There is no "THOU WON'T" or *cough* "THOU SHAN'T". Instead write out the verbs completely: "Thou wilt not" and "Thou shalt not".

I hope this will be of assistance. Excuse my grammatical fanaticism. I just hate to see dear pronouns and verbs abused! Please do respect language as a living and evolving entity and try to be historically accurate. ^_^ Language in all of its periods is an art and using proper grammar appropriate to the historical period whose mechanics you have chosen for the expression of your idea is a way of giving the proper respect to the life of language.

In other words, watch your language, you muddy-mettled knaves. XD

From, your friendly local prudish verbal fanatic.