Thou · Thee · Ye Olde
Old English translator
Turn modern English into Shakespearean English, with thou art, hath and wherefore, or gloss it word by word into Anglo-Saxon Old English. Copy the result as plain text or in blackletter.
Shakespearean English
Hail, how art thou?
2 changes
In blackletter, to paste anywhere
ℌ𝔞𝔦𝔩, 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲?
Unicode Fraktur letters. Accented letters such as ā and þ stay plain because Unicode has no blackletter form of them.
Examples
| Modern English | Shakespearean English |
|---|---|
| Hello, how are you? | Hail, how art thou? |
| Why are you here? It's late. | Wherefore art thou here? 'Tis late. |
| Thank you, my friend. | I thank thee, my friend. |
| Do you know your way home? | Dost thou know thy way home? |
Which “old English” do you want?
English has changed so much that three different languages get called old English. Choose the mode that matches the one you have in mind.
Old English
about 450 to 1100
Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geār-dagum…
The language of Beowulf. Looks foreign today: letters like þ and æ, and word endings that change with grammar.
Middle English
about 1100 to 1500
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote…
Chaucer's English, after the Norman Conquest brought in French. Readable with effort.
Early Modern English
about 1500 to 1700
Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Shakespeare and the King James Bible. What most people mean by "old English", and what the Shakespearean mode writes.
Thou, thee, thy and thine
The Shakespearean mode picks the right form from the words around it. It is a short set of rules, so you can check its work.
| Modern | Shakespearean | Example |
|---|---|---|
| you (doing the action) | thou | Thou art kind. |
| you (receiving the action) | thee | I thank thee. |
| your (before a consonant) | thy | thy sword |
| your (before a vowel), yours | thine | thine eyes; the choice is thine |
| you, to a group | ye | Hear me, ye people. |
| yourself | thyself | Know thyself. |
Verbs after thou take -st or -est: you are → thou art; you have → thou hast; you do → thou dost; you will → thou wilt; you can → thou canst; you know → thou knowest; you say → thou sayest. With he, she and it, -s becomes -th: has → hath, does → doth, says → saith.
Anglo-Saxon glossary
Every word the Anglo-Saxon mode knows, in West Saxon dictionary form. Old English changed word endings for case, gender and number, and put verbs in different places, so a word-by-word swap gives the flavor of the language, not grammatical Old English. The letter þ (thorn) is said “th”, and a line over a vowel marks it as long.
Show all 194 words
- afteræfter
- alleall
- andand
- appleæppel
- aresindon
- badyfel
- battlebeadu
- bebēon
- bearbera
- beerbēor
- beforeǣr
- betweenbetweox
- bigmicel
- birdfugol
- blacksweart
- bloodblōd
- bonebān
- bookbōc
- breadhlāf
- brotherbrōþor
- butac
- childcild
- childrencildru
- churchcirice
- cityburg
- comecuman
- daughterdohtor
- daydæg
- deathdēaþ
- diesweltan
- dodōn
- doghund
- drinkdrincan
- earēare
- eartheorþe
- eatetan
- enemyfēond
- eveningǣfen
- evilyfel
- eyeēage
- farewellwes hāl
- fatherfæder
- fightfeohtan
- firefȳr
- fishfisc
- fivefīf
- foodmete
- footfōt
- forfor
- fourfēower
- friendfrēond
- fromfram
- givegiefan
- gogān
- godgod
- goldgold
- goodgōd
- goodbyewes hāl
- greatmicel
- greengrēne
- hallheall
- handhand
- hashæfþ
- havehabban
- hehē
- headhēafod
- hearhīeran
- heartheorte
- heavenheofon
- hellowes hāl
- herhire
- herehēr
- himhim
- hishis
- holyhālig
- homehām
- honeyhunig
- horsehors
- househūs
- howhū
- hundredhund
- iic
- ifgif
- inin
- isis
- ithit
- kingcyning
- knowwitan
- ladyhlǣfdige
- landland
- lifelīf
- littlelȳtel
- livelibban
- longlang
- lordhlāford
- lovelufu
- makemacian
- manmann
- memē
- meadmedu
- meatflǣsc
- menmenn
- milkmeolc
- mindmōd
- minemīn
- moonmōna
- morningmorgen
- mothermōdor
- mymīn
- namenama
- newnīwe
- nightniht
- nonā
- notne
- nownū
- ofof
- oldeald
- onon
- oneān
- oroþþe
- ourūre
- overofer
- priestprēost
- queencwēn
- readrǣdan
- redrēad
- ringhring
- roadweg
- saysecgan
- seasǣ
- seesēon
- shehēo
- shieldscield
- shipscip
- singsingan
- sistersweostor
- sleepslǣpan
- smalllȳtel
- sonsunu
- songsang
- speaksprecan
- speargār
- starsteorra
- stonestān
- storyspell
- strongstrang
- summersumor
- sunsunne
- swordsweord
- takeniman
- tentīen
- thatþæt
- theirhira
- themhim
- thenþā
- thereþǣr
- theyhīe
- thisþes
- threeþrēo
- timetīd
- totō
- towntūn
- treetrēow
- twotwā
- underunder
- usūs
- wargūþ
- waswæs
- waterwæter
- wayweg
- wewē
- werewǣron
- whathwæt
- whenhwonne
- wherehwǣr
- whitehwīt
- whohwā
- whyhwȳ
- wifewīf
- winewīn
- winterwinter
- wisewīs
- withmid
- wolfwulf
- womanwīf
- woodwudu
- wordword
- worldworuld
- writewrītan
- yeargēar
- yesgēa
- youþū
- younggeong
- yourþīn
Frequently asked questions
Is this real Old English?+
It depends which old English you mean. The Shakespearean mode writes Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare and the King James Bible, which is what most people want for a toast, a costume or a fantasy name. The Anglo-Saxon mode swaps words for real Old English from before 1100, but only word by word: it uses dictionary forms and does not apply Old English grammar, so treat it as a gloss, not a translation.
What does "wherefore art thou" mean?+
"Why are you." Wherefore means why, not where. When Juliet asks "wherefore art thou Romeo?" she is asking why he has to be a Montague. The translator turns "why" into "wherefore" for this reason.
When do you use thou and when thee?+
Thou is the subject, the one doing something: thou art, thou hast. Thee is the object: I love thee, this is for thee. It works like I and me. Thy and thine both mean your; thine is used before a vowel sound, so thy hand but thine eyes.
Why does "ye olde" use ye for "the"?+
Old and Middle English wrote the "th" sound with the letter thorn, þ. Early printers had no thorn in their type, so they used a y, which looked similar in handwriting. "Ye olde" was always pronounced "the old". The extra e on olde and shoppe is a later, playful imitation, so the Ye Olde switch is for signs and fun, not accuracy.
How does the translator work? Does it use AI?+
No AI. It follows fixed rules: a list of pronoun and verb patterns (you are becomes thou art, has becomes hath), a short list of archaic words, and for the Anglo-Saxon mode a glossary of about 200 common words. The same input always gives the same output, and anything it doesn't recognize is left as you typed it.
Can I use the result in an Instagram bio or a username?+
Yes. Copy the plain version, or the blackletter version below it, which uses Unicode Fraktur letters that paste into most apps. For more blackletter styles, use the gothic font generator.