þú

See also: þu and -þu

Icelandic

Alternative forms

-du, -ðu, -tu (enclitic forms)

Etymology

From Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognate with English thou, German du.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /θu/, [θ̠uː]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -uː

Pronoun

þú

(personal, in the singular) you, thou
Þú ert skemmtilegur.
You are fun.

Ertu nemandi?
Are you a student?

Usage notes

After verbs, the pronoun þú is either separated:

ert þú ― are you
borðar þú ― do you eat
kom þú ― come!

or suffixed and changed into -ðu, -du, or -u:

ertu ― are you
borðarðu ― do you eat
komdu ― come!

If the verb ends in a "t", -u is used. If it ends in a "m" or "n", -du is used. Otherwise -ðu is used.

The suffixed version is almost always used except when the speaker wants to emphasize "þú" or sound more formal.

Many younger speakers will write borðaru instead of borðarðu.

Declension

Icelandic personal pronouns
singular	first person	second person	third person
singular	first person	second person	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ég, eg, ek^†	þú	hann	hún, hon^†, hón^†	það, þat^†
accusative	mig, mik^†	þig, þik^†	hann	hana	það, þat^†
dative	mér	þér	honum, hánum^†	henni	því
genitive	mín	þín	hans	hennar	þess

plural	first person	second person	third person
plural	first person	second person	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	við	þið, þit^†	þeir	þær	þau
accusative	okkur	ykkur	þá	þær	þau
dative	okkur	ykkur	þeim	þeim	þeim
genitive	okkar	ykkar	þeirra	þeirra	þeirra

^† Archaic. See also honorific pronouns.

Synonyms

(singular you): þér (formal, archaic)

Derived terms

Old Norse

Alternative forms

-du, -ðu, -tu — enclitic forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þū (“you; thou”), from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you; thou”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /θuː/

Pronoun

þú

(in the singular) you (thou)
- 900–1000, Hávamál, verse 112
  Ráðum'k þér, Loddfáfnir, / at þú ráð nemir,
  njóta mundu ef þú nemr,
  þér munu góð ef þú getr:
  Nótt þú rís-at / nema á njósn sér
  eða þú leitir þér innan út staðar.
  I counsel thee, Loddfafnir, / to take advise:
  thou wilt profit if thou takest it.
  Rise not a night, / unless to explore,
  or art compelled to go out.[1]

Usage notes

It may become enclitic when after a verb, that is, be appended to the preceding word as either -du, -ðu or -tu depending on the consonant cluster. The rules for this are the same as for the past tense dental suffixes of the class 1 weak verbs. This may happen more often in Old Norse, as the personal pronoun is often used with the singular imperative. This is not to say, however, that whenever þú comes after a verb, it will always take an enclitic form. It could well stay separate for the sake of emphasis. With the clitics, this is how it ends up looking.

‎fórt + ‎þú → ‎fórtu
‎kenn + ‎þú → ‎kenndu
‎far + ‎þú → ‎farðu
‎miskunna + ‎þú → ‎miskunnaðu

Note, as seen in the last two examples, that this does not cause u-umlaut.

Declension

Old Norse personal pronouns
singular	first person	second person	reflexive	third person
singular	first person	second person	reflexive	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ek	þú	—	hann	hon, hón, hǫ́n	þat
accusative	mik	þik	sik	hann	hana, hána	þat
dative	mér	þér	sér	hánum, hónum, hǫ́num	henni	því
genitive	mín	þín	sín	hans	hennar	þess

dual	first person	second person	reflexive
nominative	vit	it, þit	—
accusative	okkr	ykkr	sik
dative	okkr	ykkr	sér
genitive	okkar	ykkar	sín

plural	first person	second person	reflexive	third person
plural	first person	second person	reflexive	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	vér	ér, þér	—	þeir	þær	þau
accusative	oss	yðr	sik	þá	þær	þau
dative	oss	yðr	sér	þeim	þeim	þeim
genitive	vár	yðar, yðvar	sín	þeira, þeirra	þeira, þeirra	þeira, þeirra

Descendants

Icelandic: þú, -du, -ðu, -tu
Faroese: tú
Norwegian Nynorsk: du
Norwegian Bokmål: du
Jamtish: dú
Elfdalian: du
Old Swedish: þū
- Swedish: du, tu, thu, dhu (last three obsolete)
Old Danish: thu
- Danish: du

The enclitic use lives on in modern Icelandic þú. See there for more.