I was reading a manga recently in which some character was evidently speaking in an archaic manner, but the poor translator blatantly didn’t have a clue that there’s a difference between “thee” and “thou.” Now, I’m not expecting anybody to be using this in a book unless they have some character who pops up from the Middle Ages, but it might be interesting for some of you to know.
Those of you who have studied French will know that there are two forms of “you”―the polite, formal form, and the colloquial form. The polite, formal form is “vous” (also plural) and the colloquial form is “tu.” In English, the difference between “thee” and “you” was identical (originally) and―shock horror―we managed to axe the colloquial version. We are all addressing our peers and irritating little siblings as though they are of much higher standing than us.
Yup, if you were getting close to somebody, you’d switch from “you” (Michael, I love you) to “thee” (Michael, I love thee). Apparently. But that’s enough of that.
Just to make things simple, this is the way the “thee” family works (I’m comparing them to their counterparts in “who”).
Who = thou
Whom = thee
Who’s = thou art (or th’art)
Whose = thy/thine
So… technically, we should order it “thou thee” when we’re talking about “thee thou thy,” but it just doesn’t sound nearly as good. “Thou” is referring to “you” as the subject of the sentence, e.g. “thou art a fool.” (In normal English, it’s “you’re a fool.”) “Thou” governs the verb in the sentence. “Thee” takes the same role as “whom”―provided it’s not referring to the subject of the sentence and it’s not possessive (my precious), it should always be “thee”. E.g. “I envy thee” or “it can only be done by thee, young padawan” or “to whom shall I give this polished new book? Cornelius, to thee.” <- and yes, I probably did miss out a few words in that translation of “cui dono,” but never mind.
Thy and thine… well, “thy” is possessive. That’s simple. So is “thine.” That’s also simple. What’s not quite so simple is which one to use where.
Fortunately, it’s not nearly as confusing as it might at first seem. Again, to anybody who’s done Greek, it’s dead easy―it’s like a paregoric “nu.” To anybody who’s done French, equally, and remembers that it’s “mon amie” rather than “m’amie,” it’s really not going to seem at all hard. And, to be honest, if you know when to use “an” rather than “a,” you really shouldn’t have trouble with this at all. You use “thy” the vast majority of the time. You use “thine” when the next word begins with a vowel or silent “h,” hence the words of the Mendelssohn motet “Lift thine Eyes.” You also use it in the same places that, referring to yourself, you would use “mine,” e.g. “that’s thine!”
And MS Word doesn’t recognize “thine” as an existing word… fail.
Side Note: Oh, and on the subject of old vocabulary, “from whence” is utterly, utterly wrong. It’s just “whence,” plain and simple. “Whence” means “from where.” If you say “from whence,” you’re effectively saying “from from where,” which just makes you look a little silly.
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Writing Mistakes You're Making
RandomA self-help book for beginning writers, covering everything from grammar to plot with a dash of humor to keep you interested and learning! (The best part? Anything you already know, you can just skip over.)
