[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/thou/) [dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [T](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/t/) / thou # thou pronoun (thou; thee, thy, thine — old forms) «thou» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition and Early Modern English — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova. ## Everyday 1. (old, Bible) Thou is an old word for «you» when speaking to one person, as the subject of a sentence: «Thou art» = «you are». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#m1) 2. (church) Thou is still used in old prayers and hymns to speak to God, as in the Lord's Prayer: «Our Father, which art in heaven». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#m2) 3. (informal) «Thou» can also be short for «a thousand», used by some adults about money. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#m3) ### In the lessons Pupils meet thou in the King James Bible, old hymns, Shakespeare, poems and fairy tales; it tells the reader that the language is old or holy. It goes with old verb forms ending in -st or -t: thou art, thou hast, thou shalt, thou dost. Phrases: «thou shalt not» (the Ten Commandments), «holier than thou» (someone who acts morally better than others). ### Examples - «Thou shalt not steal,» says one of the Ten Commandments. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x1) - «Where art thou?» called the knight. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x2) - The old hymn says, «How great thou art.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x3) - In Shakespeare's play, the girl says, «Thou art my friend.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x4) - Stop being so holier-than-thou about it! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x5) - Thou, thee, thy and thine are old ways of saying you and your. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x6) - The car cost him twenty thou. (informal, money) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x7) ### Note Old forms: thou (subject, like «I»), thee (object, like «me»), thy (before a word, like «my»), thine (alone, like «mine»). Verbs change: thou art, thou hast, thou didst. In old English «thou» was actually the friendly or intimate form, not the polite one. Rhymes with «now». The money sense «thou» means a thousand. ## In Jewish tradition Used all through the JPS translation for "you" (singular), including when God speaks to a person or a person to God. **Interpretation.** Hebrew has a singular "you" in the commandments, which tradition reads as meaning each person is spoken to directly. ### Examples - And thou shalt make settings of gold; (Torah EXO.28.13, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/T/thou/#x1) - Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. (Torah EXO.34.17, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/T/thou/#x2) - Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. (Torah DEU.14.3, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/T/thou/#x3) - Thus shalt thou do six days. (Prophets JOS.6.3, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/T/thou/#x4) - Wilt Thou harass a driven leaf? (Writings JOB.13.25, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/T/thou/#x5) - Declare, if thou hast the understanding. (Writings JOB.38.4, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/T/thou/#x6) ### Note Old forms: thou (subject, like «I»), thee (object, like «me»), thy (before a word, like «my»), thine (alone, like «mine»). Verbs change: thou art, thou hast, thou didst. In old English «thou» was actually the friendly or intimate form, not the polite one. Rhymes with «now». The money sense «thou» means a thousand. ## Early Modern English ### Meaning You, used as the subject when speaking to one person. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/T/thou/#m1) ### Then and now No longer used; today we say you for both the subject and object forms. ### Examples - And thou shalt make settings of gold; (Torah EXO.28.13, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/T/thou/#x1) - "Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!" (Grimm's Fairy Stories) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/T/thou/#x2) - And who canst thou place before the only one? (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/T/thou/#x3) ### Note Today: you. ## On Mova - [Trees and pragmatics of «thou» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«thou» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/thou.html) on Mova free. - [Trees and pragmatics of «thou» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/T/thou/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«thou» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/thou.html) on Mova free. - [Trees and pragmatics of «thou» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/T/thou/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«thou» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/thou.html) on Mova free.