Use of thee and thou and other archaic language

[Three_Haligonians]

I know what you mean by 'old English', but I would maintain that words like thee, thou, etc. have fallen out of use, and are thus archaic. Plus, the use of such words is a way of referring to the past.

Bah, visit Newfoundland, Canada and you'll hear "ye" plenty. And it is still used correctly, mind, not just a dialect. Here in Nova Scotia we still use "right" to mean "very", as in D&D is right good.

R from Three Haligonians

 

[Stik]

The SCA, a medieval recreation group (www.sca.org) encourages its members to adopt a more medieval style of speaking at events, to create a more "period" atmosphere. In an article entitled "Speaking Forsoothly", they offer the following advice on "thee" and "thou":

Technique #6: You/Thou/Thee/Thy/Thine/Ye
You/Thou: Thou is the familiar form of you (singular), similar in function to the Spanish tu or the German du. Use thou when addressing family, close friends, children, servants and social inferiors. You can also use thou in addressing social equals in formal or intimate circumstances. Thou appears in prayers presumably because you're on intimate terms with the deity. Do not use thou forms in addressing the King or Queen. Use the more formal you when addressing anyone above you in social status and even those of equal status if they are strangers or the setting is formal.

Thou/Thee: Use thou when it is the subject of the sentence: use thee when it is the object. Examples:Subject Object
Thou art my love. I love you.
Thou hast given it to me. I gave it to thee.

Ye: The plural of thou. Examples: "O ye gods of little fishes!" "Ye shall all be well rewarded."

Thy/Thine: These are the possessive forms of thou. The difference between thy and thine is used where the following word begins in a vowel sound. Examples:
Thy sword. Thine arrow.
What is thy name? Defend thyself.
Eat thine apple.

Also use thine when no noun follows. Examples:
She is thine. A friend of thine.

Technique #7: Conjugation Verbs
The major differences are in the thou and he forms:

Singular Plural
I ride We ride
Thou ridest You/Ye ride You ride
He/she/it rideth They ride
I love We love
Thou lovest You/ye love
You love
He/she/it loveth They love

Contractions developed for none of the conjugated forms. Examples:
I have We have
Thou hast You/Ye have You have
He/she/it hath They have
I do We do
Thou dost You/ye do You do
He/she/it doth They do

The irregular verb to be differs only in its thou form.
I am We are
Thou art You/ye are
You are He/she/it is
They are

With practice, this becometh second nature.​