LESSON 1

PRONOUNS
THEE, THOU, THINE, THY, MINE

Perhaps the most recognizable part of the Elizabethan language is the use of the personal pronouns thee, thou,
thine, thy, and mine. Fortunately these pronouns are easy to understand and remember.

Translation: Thee, thou = you Thine, thy = your Mine= my or mine

Examples and Practice: Write the correct modern pronoun in each blank:

Ex: "So well thy words become thee as thy wound."

1. So well _______ you

your words become _______ as _______
your wound

Ex: "Bring me mine armor!"

my
2. Bring me _______ armor!

USAGE
You will notice that Shakespeare uses both the archaic and modern versions of the pronouns together. There
seem to be no hard and fast rules for when to use one or the other but consider the following.
 Thine tends to precede a vowel (thine armor); thy, a consonant (thy sword).
 You and your tend to be less formal than thee and thou but notice in the following exercise that all can
be used simultaneously.

Exercise: Consider the use of the second person pronouns in the following passage. [context: Macbeth has just
told Lady Macbeth that he will not murder Duncan. Her response is one of anger and ridicule which attempts to
persuade him to go through with the murder of Duncan] Consider any shift in subject or tone that might explain
Lady Macbeth's shift from the you form to the thou form.

Was the hope drunk

Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since?
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale I think Lady Macbeth shifts from "you" to "thou"
At what it did so freely? From this time because she was speaking in both first and second
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard person point of view.
To be the same in thine own act and valour
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,'
Like the poor cat i' the adage? (II,ii)

GRAMMAR REMINDER
Pronoun: a word that replaces a noun in the discourse and indicates the speaker or writer (first-person), the person spoken or written
to (second-person), and the person or thing spoken or written about (third-person). Examples: I (first-person) will tell you (second-
person) all about it (third-person).
 LESSON 2
SUFFIXES AND VERBS
EST, ST, ETH, TH, T

A second distinctive characteristic of Elizabethan English is the frequent use of prefixes and, especially,
suffixes. Some of the suffixes can be explained by the evolution of the language while others are the result of
the poet's pursuit of variety in expression. Fortunately, the common suffixes of this lesson est, st, eth, th are
applied to fairly obvious verbs. In modern English these endings have mostly been simplified to the modern
suffix s or dropped altogether.

Translation est, st, eth, th, t = s or nothing at all

Examples and Practice. Find the suffix in each line and translate the sentence to modern English.

1. "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge!"

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"Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! You may revenge!"

2. "False face must hide what the false heart doth know."

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False face must hide what the false heart does know.

3. "What he hath lost noble, Macbeth hath won!"

What he has last noble. Macbeth has won!

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4. He can report,/As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt/ The newest state.
He can report,/ As seems by his plight, of the revolt/The newest state.
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5. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling.

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I have you not, and yet Isee you still.Are you not fatal vision,
sensible to feeling.
6. Thou can'st not say I did it: never shake thy gory locks at me.

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You can not say I did it:never shake your gory locks at me.
Here is a list of common verbs and their modern equivalents:

'Hath = has
Doth = does
Lest = unless, less
see'st = see, sees
may'st or mayest = may
Art= are
GRAMMAR REMINDER
Suffix: A group of letters added to the end of a word to form a new word. For example: when ful is added to the word help, a new
word is formed: helpful.
 LESSON 3
CONTRACTIONS OF PREPOSITIONS
I' O' NE'ER E'ER O'ER

Contractions in Shakespeare represent a challenge to the modern reader mainly because Shakespeare used them
so freely while in Modern English the use of contractions in formal writing is frowned upon. Contractions are
indicated by the apostrophe ( ' )which shows that letters have been left out. Most frequently you will find that
suffixes and prepositions have been contracted. Shakespeare varies his use of contractions to achieve poetic
effect or sometimes to make a pun.

Examples and Practice. Underline the contraction and write its meaning below.

1. "Knock, knock, knock! Who's there, i' the name of Beelzebub?"

________________
in

2. "The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap."

________________
over leap

3. "Merciful heaven! What, man! Ne'er pull your hat upon your brows."

________________
never

4. "No man that's born of woman shall e'er have power upon thee."

________________
ever

5. Yet do i fear thy nature; it is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way."

________________
of

USAGE
One vestige of the contraction of prepositions is still with us today: when you say it is eight o'clock, you are
contracting the word of. Literally, you are saying that it is eight of the clock (or eight by the clock).

Common contractions of prepostions.

i' = in
o = of
o'er = over
e'er = ever
ne'er = never
ere = before

GRAMMAR REMINDER
Preposition: a word such as at, over, by and with. Prepositions are usually attached to a noun or noun phrase, showing the position
or relationship of one thing to another, for example, he arrived on a bike/ by car/ over an hour ago. Once a prepositional phrase is
formed, it usually does the work of an adverb or adjective. Prepositions can also be found in phrasal verbs, eg Get up! Come on!
English also has one postposition: ago.
 LESSON 4
WORD ORDER
AUXILIARY DUMMY DO, INTERROGATIVES, AND NEGATION

The most formidable challenge in reading Shakespeare is coping with unusual sentence structures that are far
removed from the typical subject→verb→object order in English. Some of these differences can be explained
by the way in which questions are sometimes formed in Elizabethan English. The first problem is that the
Elizabethans can (but don't have to) form questions without do when modern English demands a do; second,
they do this by placing the verb before the subject. This is particularly true when an interrogative is negative.

Translation:
To translate an unfamiliar question in Shakespeare, try adding do and checking to see if the subject is in front of
the verb.

Examples and Practice. Translate the following sentences into modern English

1. Hath he ask'd for me?

________________________________________________________________________
Do he ask for me?

2. Know you not he has?

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3. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not/ Those in commission yet return'd?

________________________________________________________________________

4. Dismay'd not this our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?

________________________________________________________________________

5. Goes Fleance with you?

________________________________________________________________________

6. Sirrah, a word with you: attend those men/Our pleasure?

________________________________________________________________________

Exercise: Search all of Macbeth for six questions: three should be close to modern English and three should
show an inversion of word order. Write the six sentences and offer an explanation as to when Shakespeare
tends to invert word order and when he does not.

GRAMMAR REMINDER
Auxiliary Verb: A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary
verbs.
Interrogative: A structure used to ask a yes/no-question (e.g. Can you go?) or a wh-question (e.g. when can you go?)