thee

Thee is the archaic English second-person pronoun used as the object form of thou. In Early Modern English, thou served as the informal singular subject pronoun, while thee functioned as its accusative/dative form. The corresponding possessive forms were thy (adjective) and thine (pronoun). Thee derives from Old English þē, the dative/accusative form of þū.

In usage, thee occurs after verbs and prepositions: I spoke to thee, I gave thee a book. It was common in the 16th through 18th centuries, but over time you became the standard second-person pronoun for both singular and plural, replacing thou/thee in most contexts; ye served as the plural or formal subject pronoun. Thee is thus largely grammatical object today, with thou remaining the corresponding subject form in historical or stylized contexts.

Modern usage: Today thee is primarily found in religious, poetic, or historical texts, and in some dialects or stage performances. In everyday modern English, you would use you as the second-person pronoun. Thee often appears in phrases intended to imitate or evoke a period tone, such as in Shakespearean or King James Bible-inspired language.

Capitalisation and reverence: Capitalisation of pronouns varied by edition and period. In some religious or literary works, the pronouns referring to the divine or used in reverent address were capitalised, but this convention is not universal and is largely stylistic today.