Introduction to The Canterbury Tales, in Middle English:
"Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;"
All that had changed by the 16th century. Shakespeare and his contemporaries wrote in modern English, using the same grammar we use today... well, except for a few small differences - holdovers from an earlier era...
These differences include: pronouns (zámeno), conjugation (časovanie), swallowing consonants (spoluhlásky).
Now, before I explain more, you may be asking yourself,
"Why do I have to learn some stupid grammar that's 500 years old! No one talks like this anymore!"
The answer is, it's important.
Here's why. You see, Shakespeare and other writers of his time were so good, that every other writer in the English language since then tried to emulate them, at least a little. His way of writing was so grandiose, formal, and noble, it made everything he said sound important.
So, even though people didn't speak like Shakespeare 200 years later, they still wrote like him, regardless if they were British, American, Australian, or whatever. And they still do today, in places you wouldn't think to look. Marvel Comic's Thor speaks in Elizabethan English:
You need to learn this grammar so you can understand everything that follows for the next 400 years.
Don't worry, it's simple - Just three things!
Pronouns
You
Shakespeare and other writers sometimes wrote 'you' in their poems. But, sometimes they used other words that mean the same thing. Sometimes they wrote:
Thou (rhymes with cow) - Nominative case, singular.
Example: Thou art a good student.
Sometimes they wrote:
Thee (rhymes with me) - Accusative, singular
Example: I love thee. I give thee all my love.
Why so many words that mean the same thing? Well, remember Shakespeare was a poet. He wanted to write things that rhyme, and he was worried about rhythm and meters and alliteration, etc. And, he was emulating a form of poetry called the sonnet, which came from Italy. Writing poetry that rhymes in Italian is easier because all the words end in vowels (samohlásky). It's a lot harder in English, so English poets needed more word choices to produce quality poetry. So, sometimes he'd say 'you', sometimes 'thou', and sometimes 'thee'.
Your
The Elizabethan form of 'your' is:
Thy (rhymes with my) - possessive adjective, singular
Example: Where is thy homework?
Yours
The Elizabethan form of 'yours' is:
Thine (rhymes with mine) - possessive pronoun, singular
Example: Is this notebook thine?
Yourself
The Elizabethan form is:
Thyself
Example: If thou wantest the job done right, do it thyself.
Conjugation
Conjugation in Elizabethan times was mostly the same as today. The only changes are in the present simple and past simple.
Present Simple
Is mostly the same. The only change is in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.
2nd person, add a 't, st, or est'
3rd person, add a 'th, or eth'
Modern Elizabethan
You are Thou art
You have Thou hast
He has He hath
You see Thou seest (two syllables)
He sees He seeth (two syllables)
Past Simple
In Elizabethan English, there are two forms for the past simple - you have two options - all to help plan your rhythm and meter in poetry. And, the 2nd person singular adds an -st, or -est.
Modern Elizabethan
You had Thou hadst, or Thou didst have
You saw Thou sawest, or Thou didst see
I had I had, or I did have
He saw He saw, or He did see
Swallowing Consonants
This is easy. Sometimes, instead of writing an entire word, like 'over', Shakespeare would write: o'er. It's the same word, just meant to be read faster. It mimics the English accent and helps change the word from two syllables to one - again, for purposes of planning rhythm and meter.
You'll see this all the time. Just read it out loud and think what it sounds like, and guess which letter best fits in place of the apostrophe.
That's it!
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