sē
The English phrase 'the' is translated into Old English as sē.
Meaning: article (article)
Which one should you use?
The form sē is the masculine version. You must use sēo for feminine nouns and þæt for neuter nouns.
How does it change in a sentence?
The masculine form sē changes to sēo when referring to feminine nouns and to þæt when referring to neuter nouns.
Did you know?
- The sound of the letter þ is the same as the 'th' in 'thin'. In some manuscripts, scribes replaced it with a symbol that looks like a 'y', leading to the 'Ye Olde' misspelling seen today.
- The neuter form þæt is actually the ancestor of our modern English word 'that', showing how a definite article and a demonstrative pronoun were once almost identical.
- Unlike modern English, sē and its relatives changed their forms based on whether the noun was the subject or the object of the sentence.
Examples in context
- Sēo catte is dēad.The cat is dead.Tatoeba #8459021 by shekitten, translation #8458426 by shekitten
- God nere sēo cwēne!God save the Queen!Tatoeba #8918124 by iiujik, translation #4256555 by JFMorais
- Sē cyning is unwita.The king is a fool.This sentence demonstrates the use of the masculine form sē.Tatoeba #13723131 by rul, translation #13721977 by rul
- Þæt scipThe ship
- Þa scipuThe ships
- Se mannThe man
- 23 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Wulfrun and Osric are looking for a missing dog.
- WulfrunHwǣr is sē hund?Where is the dog?
- OsricIc ne wāt.I do not know.
- WulfrunSē hund is hēr!The dog is here!
- OsricNū wē gāþ.Now we go.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “the” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
