Download Shakespearean Pronouns and Verb Inflections

English 1/Winter 2010
Ms. Koenen
Shakespeare’s Language
Shakespearean Pronouns and Verb Forms
Modern English has dropped a set of pronouns and verbs called the "familiar" or thee and thou
forms once used among close friends or to address children, inferiors, animals, or inanimate
objects. These old forms did, though, survive into Elizabethan England, and they appear
frequently in Shakespeare. They correspond roughly to the tu forms of the Romance languages,
the ty forms of the Slavic languages, the su forms of the Greek, and the kimi forms of Japanese.
Familiar Pronouns
SINGULAR PRONOUNS
1st
2nd
3rd
1st
PLURAL PRONOUNS
2nd
3rd
Subject
I
thou
he/she/it
we
Case
Object
me
thee
him/her/it
us
Case
Possessive
my
thy
his/her/its
our
Adjective
mine*
thine*
Possessive
Mine
Thine
His/hers/its
Ours
Noun
*Substitute forms used before a noun beginning with a vowel
ye
they
you
them
your
their
Yours
theirs
shall
shalt
shouldst
do
dost
didst
Verb Inflections
2ND PERSON FAMILIAR
Adds the ending -est, -'st, or -st
Example: thou givest, thou sing'st
SOME IRREGULAR VERBS IN 2ND PERSON
Present
you
are
have will
Present
thou art
hast
wilt
Past
thou wast hadst wouldst
can
canst
couldst
Shakespearean Omissions
When we speak, we often reduce, compress, or omit syllables: “I’m going’ t’ town,” or
“C’mere.” Shakespeare’s characters also compress, reduce, and omit:
“on” and “of” to “o”
“have” to “ha”
“it” to “t”
“them” to “’em”
“thou art” [you are] to “thou’rt”
“taken” to “ta’en”
Sentence Word Order
1.
I the peanut butter and jelly sandwich ate.
2.
Ate I the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
3.
I ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
4.
Ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I.
5.
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich I ate.
6.
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich ate I.
QUESTIONS
1.
In the peanut butter and sandwich sentences, in how many different positions does
the word “I” appear? ___________
the word “ate” ?
____________
the words “peanut butter and jelly sandwich”? ___________
Which of these sentences would you use if you wanted someone to understand your meaning
quickly? # ___________
Why?
2.
Rearrange the position of the words in the following sentences so that the meaning of the
passage is most readily understandable..
Peculiar was the thief.
We are sent to give them from our royal master thanks. (1.3.105-6)
So foul and fair a day I have not seen. (1.3.39)
So well they words become thee as thy wounds; they smack of honour both. (1.2.47-9_/
But all’s too weak, for brave Macbeth...disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, which
smoked with bloody execution, like Valour’s minion carved out his passage till he faced the
slave. (1.2.17-22)
3.
Rewrite the following sentences, giving any unusual arrangements to the parts of the
sentences. Make sure you retain the original meaning.
I loaned Tom my purple Volkswagon bug.
Macbeth and Banquo went to Duncan’s place at Forres.