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?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

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

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". Thanks.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

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

Thou art welcome

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Thou art welcome

La agradecida es una servidora por vuesas explicaciones.