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Shakespeare wrote in English and "you" in English is "you". In plural senses you will never find another word in Shakespeare. In singular senses, as in modern devotional and religious literature, Shakespeare sometimes used the pronoun "thou" for second person singular indicative. This is especially true if the person being spoken to is a child, inferior, pet or lover.

A great example is the "closet scene" in Hamlet (Act 3 Scene 4) In this scene Hamlet always calls his mother "you" but she sometimes calls him "you" and sometimes "thou". The Ghost calls Hamlet "thou"; Hamlet calls Polonius's corpse "thou", but Polonius calls Gertrude "you".

"Thou" has its own verb forms which must be used whenever you use it. For example:

You are reading a book. Thou artreading a book.

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14y ago

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