A Brief Intro to Early Modern English

Directions 1. With the person sitting next to you, begin a silent conversation on paper (like passing notes, back in the olden days.) 2. Your conversation can be about anything [school appropriate], but be sure to use “you” and “your” and a variety of verbs.

I, Martin, take thee, Jane, as my lawful wife. I, Jane, take thee, Martin, as my lawful husband.

Singular Pronouns Thou – Subject: ‘Thou art my brother.’ Thee – Object: ‘Come, let me see thee.’ Thy – Possessive Adjective: ‘What is thy name?’ Thine – Possessive noun: ‘To thine own self be true.’

When do you use tú or usted? When do you use thou or you? Which form? When do you use tú or usted? When do you use thou or you?

Plural Pronoun Ye – Subject: “Ye shall know me.’

Verb inflection Elizabethan language, though considered Early Modern English, still retained some verb inflections. Usually they simply add an -est or –st to a word. These were used often with the 2nd person familiar pronouns: "Thou liest, malignant thing." "What didst thou see?" "Why canst thou not see the difference?"

Your turn Partners, return to your silent conversation and Shakespearize it! Change you or your thou, thee, thy, or thine. Analyze the word before choosing which one to use! Hint: Is you being used as a subject, object, possessive adjective or possessive noun?

“Shakespeare takes a perfectly good sentence and messes it up.”

1. “A glooming peace this morning with it brings” (Romeo and Juliet) 1. “A glooming peace this morning with it brings” (Romeo and Juliet). Modern version? This morning brings a gloomy peace. 2. “Thy shape invisible retain thou still” (The Tempest). Stay invisible.

Sentence Scramble Directions: As a group, take the sentence from Othello and put it in its original Shakespearean order. Hints: Consider basic English sentence structure and word order to help you through this process. Don’t just guess, but systematically decide where the words should be placed. This helps us “decode” Shakespeare’s [sometimes] awkward sounding sentences – a valuable skill whilst reading Merchant of Venice.