The object pronoun us represents the first person plural in the accusative and dative cases, functioning as the receiver of actions or the indirect object of verbs. In Elizabethan English, us operated within a complex pronominal system that distinguished not only number and case but also levels of social intimacy through the thee/thou versus you/ye distinction.
The pronunciation of us in Early Modern English carried a vowel quality closer to /ʊs/ (rhyming with “puss”) rather than the modern /ʌs/. This reflects the incomplete state of the Great Vowel Shift during Shakespeare’s era, when many vowel sounds occupied intermediate positions between their Middle English origins and their modern reflexes.
Understanding us requires grasping its relationship to we (nominative), its contrast with you (second person), and its frequent appearance in constructions expressing collective identity, shared experience, and communal appeal. The pronoun appears extensively in dramatic soliloquy, royal proclamation, and devotional literature where speakers invoke shared humanity or corporate identity.
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FAQ: What does “us” mean in Elizabethan English? The pronoun “us” in Elizabethan English functions identically to modern usage as the object form of “we,” receiving the action of verbs or following prepositions. However, its phonological realization differed, and it participated in a richer system of pronominal address that distinguished social relationships through pronoun choice.
Key Takeaways
This lesson explores the first person plural object pronoun through fifteen graduated examples demonstrating us in various syntactic positions, followed by fifteen examples within dramatic verse showcasing period-authentic usage. Learners will encounter the pronoun receiving direct actions, following prepositions, appearing in imperative constructions, and functioning in the rich rhetorical appeals characteristic of Elizabethan oratory and drama.
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Key Phonological Features of Original Pronunciation (OP):
The suffix -tion was pronounced as two syllables /sjən/ or /sɪən/ (like “see-un”), not modern /ʃən/. Thus salvation sounded like “sal-VA-see-un” and nation like “NA-see-un.”
The letter r was pronounced in all positions (rhotic accent), unlike modern Received Pronunciation.
Long vowels were in flux due to the ongoing Great Vowel Shift; many words retained more open or centralized vowel qualities.
The vowel in us was likely /ʊ/ (as in “put”) rather than modern /ʌ/ (as in “cup”).
Words like love, prove, blood retained the /ʊ/ vowel, allowing rhymes impossible in modern English.
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1.1a God save us from our enemies.
1.1b God /gɔd/ God save /seːv/ save us /ʊs/ us from /frɔm/ from our /uːr/ our enemies /ˈɛnəmiːz/ enemies
1.2a The king hath summoned us to court.
1.2b The /ðə/ the king /kɪŋ/ king hath /haθ/ has summoned /ˈsʊmmənd/ summoned us /ʊs/ us to /tuː/ to court /kɔːrt/ court
1.3a Let us go hence before the storm.
1.3b Let /lɛt/ let us /ʊs/ us go /goː/ go hence /hɛns/ hence before /bɪˈfɔːr/ before the /ðə/ the storm /stɔːrm/ storm
1.4a They would betray us for silver.
1.4b They /ðeɪ/ they would /wʊd/ would betray /bɪˈtreɪ/ betray us /ʊs/ us for /fɔːr/ for silver /ˈsɪlvər/ silver
1.5a Heaven defend us in this tribulation.
1.5b Heaven /ˈhɛvən/ heaven defend /dɪˈfɛnd/ defend us /ʊs/ us in /ɪn/ in this /ðɪs/ this tribulation /trɪbjʊˈleɪsjən/ tribulation
1.6a The messenger brought us tidings of great joy.
1.6b The /ðə/ the messenger /ˈmɛsəndʒər/ messenger brought /brɔːxt/ brought us /ʊs/ us tidings /ˈtaɪdɪŋz/ tidings of /ɔv/ of great /greːt/ great joy /dʒɔɪ/ joy
1.7a Fortune hath not forsaken us utterly.
1.7b Fortune /ˈfɔːrtʃuːn/ fortune hath /haθ/ has not /nɔt/ not forsaken /fɔːrˈseɪkən/ forsaken us /ʊs/ us utterly /ˈʊtərliː/ utterly
1.8a Give us this day our daily bread.
1.8b Give /gɪv/ give us /ʊs/ us this /ðɪs/ this day /deɪ/ day our /uːr/ our daily /ˈdeɪliː/ daily bread /brɛːd/ bread
1.9a What passion moves us to such desperate action?
1.9b What /ʍat/ what passion /ˈpasjən/ passion moves /muːvz/ moves us /ʊs/ us to /tuː/ to such /sʊtʃ/ such desperate /ˈdɛspərət/ desperate action /ˈaksjən/ action
1.10a The gentle spring doth call us to the garden.
1.10b The /ðə/ the gentle /ˈdʒɛntəl/ gentle spring /sprɪŋ/ spring doth /dʊθ/ does call /kɔːl/ call us /ʊs/ us to /tuː/ to the /ðə/ the garden /ˈgaːrdən/ garden
1.11a Teach us, O Lord, the way of righteousness.
1.11b Teach /tiːtʃ/ teach us /ʊs/ us O /oː/ O Lord /lɔːrd/ Lord the /ðə/ the way /weɪ/ way of /ɔv/ of righteousness /ˈraɪtʃəsnɪs/ righteousness
1.12a No revelation hath been vouchsafed us concerning these mysteries.
1.12b No /noː/ no revelation /rɛvəˈleɪsjən/ revelation hath /haθ/ has been /biːn/ been vouchsafed /vaʊtʃˈseɪft/ vouchsafed us /ʊs/ us concerning /kənˈsɜːrnɪŋ/ concerning these /ðiːz/ these mysteries /ˈmɪstəriːz/ mysteries
1.13a The nation expecteth us to stand firm against the invader.
1.13b The /ðə/ the nation /ˈneɪsjən/ nation expecteth /ɪkˈspɛktəθ/ expects us /ʊs/ us to /tuː/ to stand /stand/ stand firm /fɜːrm/ firm against /əˈgeɪnst/ against the /ðə/ the invader /ɪnˈveɪdər/ invader
1.14a Between us and perdition stands only the grace of God.
1.14b Between /bɪˈtwiːn/ between us /ʊs/ us and /and/ and perdition /pərˈdɪsjən/ perdition stands /standz/ stands only /ˈoːnliː/ only the /ðə/ the grace /greɪs/ grace of /ɔv/ of God /gɔd/ God
1.15a Time, that devoureth all things, shall consume us likewise.
1.15b Time /taɪm/ time that /ðat/ that devoureth /dɪˈvaʊrəθ/ devours all /ɔːl/ all things /θɪŋz/ things shall /ʃal/ shall consume /kənˈsjuːm/ consume us /ʊs/ us likewise /ˈlaɪkwaɪz/ likewise
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1.1 God save us from our enemies.
1.2 The king hath summoned us to court.
1.3 Let us go hence before the storm.
1.4 They would betray us for silver.
1.5 Heaven defend us in this tribulation.
1.6 The messenger brought us tidings of great joy.
1.7 Fortune hath not forsaken us utterly.
1.8 Give us this day our daily bread.
1.9 What passion moves us to such desperate action?
1.10 The gentle spring doth call us to the garden.
1.11 Teach us, O Lord, the way of righteousness.
1.12 No revelation hath been vouchsafed us concerning these mysteries.
1.13 The nation expecteth us to stand firm against the invader.
1.14 Between us and perdition stands only the grace of God.
1.15 Time, that devoureth all things, shall consume us likewise.
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God save us from our enemies. The king hath summoned us to court. Let us go hence before the storm. They would betray us for silver. Heaven defend us in this tribulation. The messenger brought us tidings of great joy. Fortune hath not forsaken us utterly. Give us this day our daily bread. What passion moves us to such desperate action? The gentle spring doth call us to the garden. Teach us, O Lord, the way of righteousness. No revelation hath been vouchsafed us concerning these mysteries. The nation expecteth us to stand firm against the invader. Between us and perdition stands only the grace of God. Time, that devoureth all things, shall consume us likewise.
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The Pronoun “Us” in Elizabethan English
The first person plural object pronoun us descends from Old English ūs, cognate with Latin nos and Greek ἡμᾶς (hēmas). In the Elizabethan period, us functioned in the accusative (direct object) and dative (indirect object) cases, having merged these functions as case distinctions collapsed in Middle English.
Phonological Notes:
The vowel in us during Shakespeare’s era retained a quality closer to /ʊ/ (the vowel in modern “put”) rather than the centralized /ʌ/ of contemporary Received Pronunciation. This explains why words now pronounced with /ʌ/ (blood, love, done, us) once rhymed comfortably with words containing /uː/ or /ʊ/.
Syntactic Functions:
Direct Object: “The plague hath visited us“ — receiving the action of the verb
Indirect Object: “Give us thy blessing” — the recipient of something given
Object of Preposition: “Between us lies a great gulf” — governed by preposition
In Hortatory Subjunctive: “Let us pray” — forming first person plural commands
The “Let us” Construction:
The phrase let us (contracted to let’s in informal speech even in the period) functioned as a first person plural imperative, inviting collective action. This construction remains productive in modern English but carried particular rhetorical weight in Elizabethan sermon, political oration, and dramatic soliloquy.
Us versus We:
Elizabethan English maintained the distinction between nominative we (subject position) and accusative/dative us (object position) with perfect consistency. Hypercorrection (”between you and I”) was not yet prevalent, and constructions like “us Englishmen” in object position were fully grammatical.
Period Pronunciation of Key Suffixes:
Words ending in -tion (nation, salvation, passion, action, tribulation, revelation, perdition) were pronounced with /sjən/ or /sɪən/ rather than modern /ʃən/. This two-syllable realization affects scansion in verse and explains certain rhymes.
Words ending in -sion similarly retained /zjən/ (vision as “VI-zee-un”).
The suffix -ture in words like nature, fortune, creature was pronounced /tjʊr/ rather than modern /tʃər/.
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The First Person Plural in Elizabethan Rhetoric
The pronoun us carried profound rhetorical significance in Elizabethan England, serving as the linguistic foundation for appeals to collective identity, shared faith, and communal action. When Elizabeth I declared to her troops at Tilbury, “I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too,” she strategically deployed first person pronouns to unite herself with her subjects against a common enemy.
Religious Language and “Us”
The Book of Common Prayer (1549, revised 1559 and 1662) saturated English devotional life with first person plural constructions. Phrases like “Lord, have mercy upon us“ and “Grant us thy peace” shaped how ordinary people understood their collective relationship with the divine. The Litany’s responsive structure (”Good Lord, deliver us“) reinforced communal identity through shared supplication.
Dramatic Uses
Shakespeare employed us strategically to modulate audience sympathy and character alignment. When characters speak of “us,” they invite identification; when they exclude through “you” or “they,” they create dramatic distance. The Chorus in Henry V famously appeals: “O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend / The brightest heaven of invention! / ... Can this cockpit hold / The vasty fields of France? Or may we cram / Within this wooden O the very casques / That did affright the air at Agincourt? / ... Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts.”
The Royal “We” and Its Object Form
Monarchs employed the pluralis majestatis (”royal we”), using first person plural forms to represent the body politic they embodied. The object form appeared in constructions like “It hath been reported unto us“ in royal proclamations. This convention persisted through Elizabeth’s reign and into the Stuart period.
Social Bonds and Exclusion
The choice between inclusive and exclusive “us” (whether the addressee was included in the reference or not) carried social meaning. Preachers who said “God will judge us all” created different effect than those declaring “God will judge them.” This rhetoric of inclusion and exclusion shaped political, religious, and social discourse throughout the period.
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From William Shakespeare, Hamlet (c. 1600), Act I, Scene ii:
HORATIO: “A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets: As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters in the sun; and the moist star Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse: And even the like precurse of fierce events, As harbingers preceding still the fates And prologue to the omen coming on, Have heaven and earth together demonstrated Unto our climatures and countrymen.”
This passage illustrates how Shakespeare deployed first person plural possessives to create identification between characters and audience—the ominous portents apply to “our climatures,” drawing English playgoers into the Danish setting through shared linguistic identity.
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A scene from the court of an English nobleman, wherein servants and masters contemplate their shared mortality and petition heaven for deliverance from approaching danger.
2.1a What news from London? Tell us all thou knowest.
2.1b What /ʍat/ what news /njuːz/ news from /frɔm/ from London /ˈlʊndən/ London Tell /tɛl/ tell us /ʊs/ us all /ɔːl/ all thou /ðaʊ/ thou knowest /ˈnoːəst/ knowest
2.2a The pestilence creeps ever nearer us.
2.2b The /ðə/ the pestilence /ˈpɛstɪləns/ pestilence creeps /kriːps/ creeps ever /ˈɛvər/ ever nearer /ˈniːrər/ nearer us /ʊs/ us
2.3a Heaven shield us from contagion and death!
2.3b Heaven /ˈhɛvən/ heaven shield /ʃiːld/ shield us /ʊs/ us from /frɔm/ from contagion /kənˈteɪdʒjən/ contagion and /and/ and death /dɛːθ/ death
2.4a Shall we flee? The sickness follows us like a shadow.
2.4b Shall /ʃal/ shall we /wiː/ we flee /fliː/ flee The /ðə/ the sickness /ˈsɪknɪs/ sickness follows /ˈfɔloːz/ follows us /ʊs/ us like /laɪk/ like a /a/ a shadow /ˈʃadoː/ shadow
2.5a Let us to the country, where cleaner air prevails.
2.5b Let /lɛt/ let us /ʊs/ us to /tuː/ to the /ðə/ the country /ˈkʊntriː/ country where /ʍɛːr/ where cleaner /ˈkliːnər/ cleaner air /ɛːr/ air prevails /prɪˈveɪlz/ prevails
2.6a Yet duty holds us fast unto our lord.
2.6b Yet /jɛt/ yet duty /ˈdjuːtiː/ duty holds /hoːldz/ holds us /ʊs/ us fast /fast/ fast unto /ˈʊntuː/ unto our /uːr/ our lord /lɔːrd/ lord
2.7a What obligation binds us in such peril?
2.7b What /ʍat/ what obligation /ɔblɪˈgeɪsjən/ obligation binds /baɪndz/ binds us /ʊs/ us in /ɪn/ in such /sʊtʃ/ such peril /ˈpɛrɪl/ peril
2.8a Honour commands us stay; fear bids us go.
2.8b Honour /ˈɔnər/ honour commands /kəˈmandz/ commands us /ʊs/ us stay /steɪ/ stay fear /fiːr/ fear bids /bɪdz/ bids us /ʊs/ us go /goː/ go
2.9a Between us and salvation lies a narrow path.
2.9b Between /bɪˈtwiːn/ between us /ʊs/ us and /and/ and salvation /salˈveɪsjən/ salvation lies /laɪz/ lies a /a/ a narrow /ˈnaroː/ narrow path /paːθ/ path
2.10a The physician hath given us physic against infection.
2.10b The /ðə/ the physician /fɪˈzɪsjən/ physician hath /haθ/ has given /ˈgɪvən/ given us /ʊs/ us physic /ˈfɪzɪk/ medicine against /əˈgeɪnst/ against infection /ɪnˈfɛksjən/ infection
2.11a May God preserve us through this tribulation.
2.11b May /meɪ/ may God /gɔd/ God preserve /prɪˈzɜːrv/ preserve us /ʊs/ us through /θruː/ through this /ðɪs/ this tribulation /trɪbjʊˈleɪsjən/ tribulation
2.12a The bells toll; another soul hath left us.
2.12b The /ðə/ the bells /bɛlz/ bells toll /toːl/ toll another /əˈnʊðər/ another soul /soːl/ soul hath /haθ/ has left /lɛft/ left us /ʊs/ us
2.13a Who among us shall see the coming spring?
2.13b Who /huː/ who among /əˈmʊŋ/ among us /ʊs/ us shall /ʃal/ shall see /siː/ see the /ðə/ the coming /ˈkʊmɪŋ/ coming spring /sprɪŋ/ spring
2.14a Pray for us, good father, that we may endure.
2.14b Pray /preɪ/ pray for /fɔːr/ for us /ʊs/ us good /guːd/ good father /ˈfaːðər/ father that /ðat/ that we /wiː/ we may /meɪ/ may endure /ɪnˈdjuːr/ endure
2.15a Thus death makes philosophers of us all.
2.15b Thus /ðʊs/ thus death /dɛːθ/ death makes /meɪks/ makes philosophers /fɪˈlɔsəfərz/ philosophers of /ɔv/ of us /ʊs/ us all /ɔːl/ all
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This lesson forms part of a systematic 1000-word frequency curriculum following the Latinum Institute methodology, designed for autodidactic learners seeking mastery of Elizabethan English. The interlinear construed text approach, with its word-by-word glossing and period-accurate IPA pronunciation, makes the language of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and the King James Bible accessible to modern students.
Course Index:
https://latinum.substack.com/p/index
Latinum Institute Reviews: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/latinum.org.uk
The Original Pronunciation (OP) transcriptions in this lesson draw upon the research of David Crystal and Ben Crystal, whose reconstructions of Elizabethan phonology have informed performances at Shakespeare’s Globe since 2004. Key features include the rhotic treatment of /r/, the two-syllable pronunciation of “-tion” suffixes as /sjən/, and vowel qualities reflecting the incomplete state of the Great Vowel Shift.
By mastering the high-frequency vocabulary of Early Modern English through systematic exposure, learners develop the intuitive competence necessary to read period texts with comprehension and appreciation, understanding not only what the words mean but how they sounded in the mouths of Shakespeare’s original audiences.
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