the great you/thou post. a quick and dirty guide for characters using archaic/middle english.
speedball samples. i just want to get writing and need to replace all of my you's with thou's!
you are writing a fromsoft character. -> thou are/art writing a fromsoft character.
i follow you on tumblr. -> i follow thee on tumblr.
(all of) you fromsoft roleplayers are so cool. -> ye fromsoft roleplayers are so cool.
A CONSONANT! hollowed be your knight, your humanity come. -> hollowed be thy ✅ knight, thy ✅ humanity come.
A VOWEL! your arcane needs leveling, your endurance is fine. -> thine ✅ arcane needs/needest leveling, thine ✅ endurance is fine.
BONUS ROUND: POSSESSIVE PLACEMENT! your blog -> thy blog. VS. the blog is yours. -> the blog is thine.
just like grammar used to make. i want to get down in the dirt with how these are used!
YOU/THOU: subjective/nominative 2nd person singular pronoun. when YOU indicates the subject, or the active force of a sentence - even if you're asking someone to do something, the YOU in question is the one who could be doing an action. YOU play video games too much; could YOU play fewer games? -> THOU play(est) video games too much; could(st) THOU play fewer games?
YOU/THEE: objective 2nd person singular pronoun. confusing, right? it's when YOU indicates the object, or the thing that is being acted upon in the sentence. normally another pronoun or proper noun will take up the subject slot. i/they/the borg messaged YOU; is it okay to message YOU? -> i/they/the borg messaged THEE; may i/they/the borg message THEE?
✅ if it's acting (including existing), it's thou! if it's being acted upon, it's thee!
(ALL OF) YOU/YE: 2nd person plural pronoun. we really have collapsed the modern 'you' down so neatly; we often don't alter it at all if it's referring to more than one person, unless we're using 'y'all' or 'youse'. if you're familiar with y'all, you can just substitute ye! if not, the YOU refers to more than one person. YOU tumblr users disgust me -> YE tumblr users disgust me. YOU in and of itself is also technically a plural, albeit less formal; you don't have to swap it for ye. THAT FIRST SENTENCE IS JUST AS CORRECT AS THE SECOND IN INFORMAL INSTANCES.
BONUS YE: if you want to get flowery and directly address multiple non-humans, you can swap THE/THOSE/THESE for YE, if 'the' is being used poetically as a form of address - i.e. you wouldnt say this if you're having a conversation with another person, you would still use the/those/these. you effectively have to talk to yourself. THE/THOSE/THESE mountains of my home delight me -> YE mountains of my home, YE bring me much delight!
YOURSELF/THYSELF: reflexive 2nd person singular pronoun. this one is easy. if you are telling a person to do something to themselves, or saying that they have done something to themselves, you use these. change YOURSELF into better armor for this fight; have you seen YOURSELF in that? -> arm THYSELF with more suitable armor; hast thou looked at THYSELF?
YOURSELVES/THYSELVES: reflexive 2nd person plural pronoun. i mention it because i have not seen 'yeselves' used, though it may exist somewhere that i simply haven't come across.
art thou a fancypants? culture thyself. i want to reflect my character's age or class in my writing, when do i use you vs. thou?
the simple answer? it depends on the period you're portraying. the older you are pre-17th century, the more likely thou and its relatives will be used. this is reductive, but it's a good rule of thumb. however, you have to keep class in mind. if your character is speaking to their social better, use 'you'. if they are of equal or lower social standing, use 'thou'.
the more complicated answer? we see you start to phase out thou as old english transitions into middle english, and that's going to vary by region; some say thou was on its way out in the 1300s, but will note its continuation through the 1700s, and people still use it to denote over-the-top formality. but since most of us are writing in fantasy settings that don't directly correlate to real world time periods, you're going to have to make a choice: is my character living in a period before you became more commonplace ( usually tied to social mobility becoming a thing ), and would use thou all the time unless speaking to someone above them? is my character royalty, will they use thou no matter what? is my character in a transitional period and wants to make a point, either by thou-ing everyone ( which could garner some anger ) or you-ing everyone ( which may be seen as too polite to people stuck in the old ways )? it's going to vary, and it's up to you.
these aren't hard and fast rules, and if any of my fellow tumblr linguists or historians want to chime in with their own research ( hiiii ) feel free to do so. but if you've already decided that your character is a thou-thy'er, this guide should get you going.
