þú

See also: þu and -þu

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θu/, [θuː]

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Pronoun

þú

1. (personal, 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:

  (separated)

  munt þú ― are you going to

  (separated)

  skalt þú ― you shall

  (separated)

  borðar þú ― do you eat

  (separated)

  hoppar þú ― do you jump

  (separated)

  sérð þú ― do you see

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

  (suffixed)

  muntu ― are you going to

  (suffixed)

  borðarðu ― do you eat

  (suffixed)

  viltu ― do you want to

  (suffixed)

  nennirðu ― could you be bothered to

Declension

  Icelandic personal pronouns

Icelandic personal pronouns
singular	first person	second person	third person masculine	third person feminine	third person 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 masculine	third person feminine	third person 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

Synonyms

• (singular you): þér (formal, archaic)

Derived terms

• ertu
• gangi þér vel
• þúa
• þúbróðir/þúnautur
• þú og hvaða her
• þúst

 

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Old Norse

Alternative forms

• -du, -ðu, -tu (enclitic forms)

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognates: see there.

Pronoun

þú

1. (in the singular) you (thou)
   • Hávamál 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.

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

number	first person	second person	reflexive	third person
case	singular			singular masculine	singular feminine	singular neuter
nominative	ek	þú		hann	hon, hón	þat
accusative	mik	þik	sik	hann	hana, hána	þat
dative	mér	þér	sér	hánum, honum, hónum	henni	því
genitive	mín	þín	sín	hans	hennar	þess
case	dual
nominative	vit	it, þit
accusative	okr, okkr	ykr, ykkr	sik
dative	okr, okkr	ykr, ykkr	sér
genitive	okkar	ykkar	sín
case	plural			plural masculine	plural feminine	plural 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	þeirra	þeirra	þeirra

Descendants

• Icelandic: þú
• Faroese: tú
• Norwegian Nynorsk: du
• Norwegian Bokmål: du
• Old Swedish: þu
  • Swedish: du
• Danish: du

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

See also

• þinn (possessive pronoun)