Thou vs Them - What's the difference?
thou | them |
To address (a person) using the pronoun thou, especially as an expression of familiarity or contempt.
* 1888 , Rudyard Kipling, ‘On the City Wall’, In Black and White , Folio Society 2005, p. 443:
To use the word thou.
(slang) A thousand, especially a thousand dollars, a thousand pounds sterling, etc.
* 1611 , King James Bible , :
*
*
(dialectal) those
* 2005 , Elmer Kelton, Sons of Texas , Tor/Forge (2005), page 111:
*
As pronouns the difference between thou and them
is that thou is you singular informal, nominative casethem is Objective case of they: third personal plural pronoun used after a preposition or as the object of a verb.As a verb thou
is to address (a person) using the pronoun {{term|thou|lang=en}}, especially as an expression of familiarity or contempt.As a noun thou
is a unit of length equal to one-thousandth of an inch.As a determiner them is
those.thou
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) thou, thow, thu, ).Alternative forms
* (l), (l), (l), (l)Usage notes
* , as in, for example, “Lovest thou me?” Irregular forms include: (art) (of be), (hast) (of have), shalt (of shall), wost (of (wit)), wilt (of (will)), and (m) (of (m)).Derived terms
* th'art * thou'lt * thou'rt * thou'stSee also
(English personal pronouns)Verb
(en verb)- "One service more, Sahib , since thou hast come so opportunely," said Lalun. "Wilt thou" – it is very nice to be thou-ed by Lalun – "take this old man across the City [...] to the Kumharsen Gate?"
- I thou thee, thou traitor! (Edward Coke to Walter Raleigh)
- Avaunt, caitiff, dost thou thou me! I am come of good kin, I tell thee!'' (The morality play ''Hickscorner , ca. 1530)
- If thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss''[...] (''Twelfth Night'' 3.2, Sir Toby Belch to Sir Andrew, egging him on to pick a fight with another, where one would expect one knight courteously to say to another, "If ''you thou him...").
- Don't thou''' them as '''thous thee! (Yorkshire English admonition to overly familiar children)
Antonyms
*Etymology 2
Shortened from thousandth.Synonyms
* mil (US)Etymology 3
Shortened from thousand.Noun
(thou)them
English
(wikipedia them)Pronoun
- Give it to them . (after preposition)
- She wrote them a letter. (indirect object)
- She treated them for a cold. (direct object)
- If someone comes and asks for the ticket, just give it to them . (after preposition)
- If one of my patients calls, please bring them their dinner. (indirect object)
- If a student has an inappropriate question, whatever you do, do not berate them . (direct object)
- If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, [t]hen shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
Usage notes
* Regarding the use of singular them , see they .See also
(English personal pronouns)Determiner
(en determiner)- " Them two wild horses ain't fit to ride, and I been wonderin' how I was goin' to get you out of this place before them Spanish maybe circle back and finish the job."
- Them kids need to grow up.