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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.