Early Modern English
Shakespeare Translator
Turn modern English into Shakespearean English: thou, thee, thy, hath, doth and simple verb endings. Free, in your browser, with an optional heavier style.
Shakespearean English
7 of 22 words translated.
Early Modern English (roughly 1500–1700) by simple rules, not a scholarly translation. "You" becomes thou or thee by a guess from the surrounding words, and only common verbs take -est/-eth in the heavier style. Check the result before you use it.
Words changed
- Hello → Well met
- are you → art thou
- I think → Methinks
- you are → thou art
- you → thee
- your → thy
- Do you → Dost thou
The text you type stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server or saved by this tool, and it works from the word lists on this page. Use Copy or Download to keep a result.
What this Shakespeare translator does
Type modern English and it returns Early Modern English in the style of Shakespeare’s time, roughly the late 1500s and early 1600s. You can use it as a Shakespearean translator for fun, for a caption, or to see how the old pronouns and verb endings fit together.
It follows rules rather than guessing. That keeps the output conservative: it would rather leave a word alone than change it wrongly.
How “you” becomes thou or thee
“You” becomes thou when it is the subject and thee when it is the object. The tool guesses the role from nearby words: “you” after a preposition or a verb like “thank” is an object, “you” after “do” or “are” is a subject. If the guess is wrong, change that word by hand.
Your becomes thy, or thine before a vowel sound, and yours becomes thine. Choose the plural option if “you” means a group; then it becomes ye for the subject and stays you for the object.
Verbs and vocabulary
After thou, common verbs change: art, hast, dost, wilt, shalt, canst and wert. After he, she or it, “has” becomes hath and “does” becomes doth. A small vocabulary list swaps yes for aye, no for nay, before for ere, often for oft and perhaps for perchance.
- The heavier style also adds -est after thou and -eth after he, she or it for about 100 common verbs.
- Contractions are expanded in the heavier style.
What it leaves alone
It does not write in verse, does not rearrange sentences, and knows only the words in its list. Past-tense verbs after thou are left as they are. Read the result and adjust it before you use it.
Common questions
Is this the same as a Shakespearean English translator?
Yes. A Shakespearean English translator, a Shakespearean translator and a Shakespeare translator all mean a tool that makes modern English sound like Shakespeare’s Early Modern English. This one uses simple rules and a word list, not a trained language model.
Why did “you” become thee when I expected thou?
The tool guesses whether “you” is the subject or the object from the words around it. Short or unusual sentences can fool it. Edit the word by hand if needed.
Did Shakespeare use thou all the time?
No. In his plays characters move between thou and you. Thou can signal closeness, anger, contempt or talking down to someone, while you is more formal or respectful.
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