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# thou

«thou» in Mova's school dictionary: **an old word for «you» when speaking to one person, as the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

pronoun (thou; thee, thy, thine — old forms)

### meaning for a pupil

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://md.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://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#m3)

### sense 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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x1)
- «Where art thou?» called the knight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x2)
- The old hymn says, «How great thou art.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x3)
- In Shakespeare's play, the girl says, «Thou art my friend.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x4)
- Stop being so holier-than-thou about it! [tree →](https://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/#x6)
- The car cost him twenty thou. (informal, money) [tree →](https://md.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 the corpora

- [The sergeant speaks in old-fashioned words: «Oddsbodikins! … Rouse thee, old loon» (= Goodness!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/48-willows-ch6-part4-twenty-years-in-the-dungeon/33/)
- [And the LORD God commanded the man, saying: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.50/)
- [And the LORD God called unto the man, and said unto him: 'Where art thou?'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.69/)
- [And He said: 'Who told thee that thou wast naked?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.71/)
- [Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.72/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «thou» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/thou/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.