Verbs ending with 'st (feed'st)

[ookami]

I'm trying to read some Shakespeare sonnets and I need to know which is the function of 'st at the end of a verb.

Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel
alimentas la llama, de tu luz con tu esencia,

It's like "you feed"?

Thanks.

[Perikles]

English verbs used to inflect more than just the present 3 sing.,

I know
Thou knowest
He knows

The 2nd sing. -est was thus one extra syllable, and if a poet wanted to cheat by not counting it as a syllable, he would put (Thou) know'st.

Does that help?

[ookami]

Yes, that helps a lot :)
Thank you!

[Rusty]

Agree with Perikles about the apostrophe usage to eliminate a syllable.


The 2nd-person singular informal verbs ended in -(e)st.
The 2nd-person plural informal or the 2nd-person singular formal verbs were not inflected.

The 3rd-person singular verbs ended in -(e)th.
The 3rd-person plural verbs were not inflected.


Second Person

Nominative
singular informal
thou knowest - thou knowest not
knowest thou? - knowest thou not?
thou dost know - thou dost not know
dost thou know? - dost thou not know?

plural informal or singular formal
ye know - ye know not
know ye? - know ye not?
ye do know - ye do not know
do ye know? - do ye not know?

Objective
singular informal
thee

plural informal or singular formal
you

Genitive
singular informal
thy | thine (when following word began with a vowel sound)

plural informal or singular formal
your

Possessive
singular informal
thine

plural informal or singular formal
yours


Third Person

Nominative
singular
he knoweth - he knoweth not
knoweth he? - knoweth he not?
he doth know - he doth not know (the auxiliary verb 'do' is irregular)
doth he know? - doth he not know?

[lee ying]

what language is this? ???
he knoweth - he knoweth not
knoweth he? - knoweth he not?
he doth know - he doth not know (the auxiliary verb 'do' is irregular)
doth he know? - doth he not know?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Es inglés antiguo, Lee Ying. :)

[JPablo]

This is the older English way... (I was going to say that it is "Old English" but "Old English" goes from c450–c1150.) (c means "circa" 'alrededor' 'aproximadamente' hacia el 450-1150)

Actually Modern English, is the English language since c1475, and so these forms were used by Shakespeare and many others... are considered part of this language.

But it is a similar archaic form like in Spanish, when in the 1600 they used "vos" and their verb forms... like,

¿No sabíais eso, señor Lee Ying?
En el español actual sería:
¿No sabías eso, Lee Ying?

Aunque reconozco que el inglés nos puede resultar más arcaico todavía a los que hablamos español...

[hermit]

The language is English, old fashioned like Shakespeare, and is used all the time in the Bible.

Será inglés, de formas antiguas como usaba Shakespeare et al; también
leyendo La Biblia...

[Perikles]

It is hard to believe, but these verb forms still exist where I grew up in England, in Yorkshire.

[JPablo]

I believe it... I do believe!
(I must be a believer... even if I don't quite believe everything the Book of books says... in its different and amazing many versions...)

[irmamar]

Rusty, why do you call them "informal" if they are used in poetry and in the Bible? :thinking:

[Perikles]

Rusty, why do you call them "informal" if they are used in poetry and in the Bible? :thinking:He means 'informal' in the sense of 'personal', as the 2nd singular in Spanish, used for someone you know.

The 'you' construction was a formal = polite address, as the 3rd person sing and plural is in Spanish, but now used in English for everybody. :)

[irmamar]

Then "thou" would mean "tú". I thought it meant "vos". :thinking: Thanks. :)

[Perikles]

Then "thou" would mean "tú". I thought it meant "vos". :thinking: Thanks. :)Thou art welcome :):)

[irmamar]

Thou art welcome :):)

La agradecida es una servidora por vuesas explicaciones. :D