That's right, much of the language spoken by William Shakespeare (known as Elizabethan English) is still in use today, and is distinct from Middle English (the language of Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote The Canterbury Tales) and Early English (as found in Beowulf). However, you may be surprised to know that William Shakespeare's English is technically modern English! "Thine" for "yours" (possessive, as in "What's mine is thine.")īecause of the oddities and complexities inherent in the language of Shakespeare, sometimes his works seem incomprehensible. "Thy" for "your" (genitive, as in " Thy dagger floats before thee.") "Thee" for "you" (objective, as in "I give this to thee.") "Thou" for "you" (nominative, as in " Thou hast risen.") The second-person singular (you, your, yours), however, is translated like so: The first person - I, me, my, and mine - remains basically the same. Shakespeare's PronounsĮlizabethan English used a set of pronouns than we're used to. They list even more words and phrases that, despite their inception over 400 years ago, we still speak today. When you have a moment, take a look at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The world is my oyster (from The Merry Wives of Windsor) Jealousy is a green-eyed monster (from Othello) (from Macbeth)īreak the ice (from The Taming of the Shrew) Some of the most notable phrases include:Īll that glitters isn't gold. But, in truth, we say a lot of things today that Shakespeare himself coined. That was fun, right? In some senses, it's almost like a different language. QUICKEN - To bring to life, bring to one's senses Below, you'll find a handy list of some of the most common words used by Shakespeare translated into modern English.ĮMBOSS - To track with the intent to kill
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