Old English Translator
Turn modern English into the old-fashioned English of Shakespeare and the King James Bible: thou art, thy, hast, dost, prithee. It can also turn that style back into modern English.
About Old English Translator
Most people who look for an Old English translator want the "thee and thou" English of old books, plays and films. Linguists call that Early Modern English. It was spoken from the late 1400s to the late 1600s, the time of Shakespeare and the 1611 King James Bible. This translator writes in that style.
Real Old English is far older and very different. It was the language of the Anglo-Saxons, from the 400s until about the Norman Conquest of 1066. It used letters we have lost, such as þ (thorn), ð (eth) and æ (ash), and today it takes study to read. The poem Beowulf opens with the word Hwæt. No word-swap tool can produce real Old English, so this page does not try.
How thee and thou actually work
Thou and thee are not just fancy ways to say you. They do different jobs, like I and me. Thou is the subject: thou art kind. Thee is the object: I love thee. Thy goes before a word that starts with a consonant (thy book), and thine goes before a vowel (thine eyes) or stands alone (it is thine). My and mine follow the same rule.
Verbs change next to thou. You are becomes thou art, you have becomes thou hast, you will becomes thou wilt, and do you becomes dost thou. Only the thou form changes, so we are and they have stay as they are, and I will becomes I shall.
The translator follows these rules instead of swapping every word. It writes "Dost thou have my book?", not "Dost thou hast mine book?".
Example phrases
I love you → I love thee Thank you for your help → Gramercy for thy help Where are you going? → Whither art thou going? How are you today? → How art thou today? Do you love me? → Dost thou love me? Please forgive me → Prithee forgive me I will always love you → I shall always love thee
Other words it changes
A short list of old words is swapped in too: yes → yea, no → nay (only as an answer, so "no one" stays), hello → hail, please → prithee, thanks → gramercy, why → wherefore, maybe → perchance, nothing → naught, often → oft. Where becomes whither only when someone is going somewhere, and here becomes hither only after words like come or go, because whither and hither mean "to where" and "to here".
For bolder, more theatrical lines, try the Shakespearean translator. It uses the same grammar and adds words such as fair, merry, methinks and hark.
Questions people ask
Is this real Old English?▼
No. It is Early Modern English, the thee-and-thou style of the 1500s and 1600s. Real Old English (Anglo-Saxon) is a much older form of the language that modern readers can't follow without study.
How do you say "I love you" in Old English?▼
In the thee-and-thou style it is "I love thee". In true Anglo-Saxon Old English it would be Iċ lufiġe þē, from the verb lufian, to love.
What does "thou art" mean?▼
It means "you are", said to one person. Art is the old form of are that goes with thou.
What is the difference between thee and thou?▼
Thou is the subject of a sentence (thou art), and thee is the object (I love thee). It is the same difference as between I and me.
What does "wherefore" mean?▼
Why. When Juliet asks "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" she is asking why he has to be Romeo, a Montague, not where he is.
Can it translate old English text back to modern English?▼
Yes. Switch the direction with the arrows above the box. Thou, thee, thy, art, hast, dost, wilt and the other old words are turned back into modern ones.