The use of "Thou" and "You" in Early Modern English - Overview

In the Introduction you get some background information as well as some aspects which explain why it is interesting at all to look at "thou" and "you".

In the section Development of "thou" and "you" you get to know why "you" came into play and why "thou" disappeard.

In Sources for research you can take a look at the material from which scholars try to reconstruct the use of "thou" in Early Modern English. Especially recommendable is the unit Explore "thou" and "you" in Shakespeare's plays. On the basis of excepts from several plays as well as extracts from film adaptions, you can check if you have understood Shakespeare's use of "thou" and "you".

In the units "Check your knowledge" you find multiple choice tasks.

In When did you use which pronoun? you learn in which contexts you used "you" and which factors lead to the use of "thou".

After having dealt with the pronouns of address in Early Modern English, we will look at the use "thou" after the Early Modern English period. This section also includes to units on the use of "thou" in church as well as the use of "thou" by the Quakers.