þa

See also: tha, THA, -tha, þá, thá, and thả

Old English

Alternative forms

• ðā, þǣ, ðǣ

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þai, which shares the same root as Old English þæt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θɑː/

Article

þā m or f or n

1. inflection of se:
   1. accusative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative plural

Determiner

þā m or f or n

1. inflection of sē:
   1. accusative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative plural

Pronoun

þā m or f or n

1. inflection of sē:
   1. accusative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative plural

Descendants

• Middle English: tha, tho
  • English: tho
  • ⇒ Middle English: thos
    • English: those

Adverb

þā

1. then
   • 981 C.E. AS Chronicles:

     Her comon ærest þa VII scipu and gehergoden Hamtun

     then in this year first came 7 ships, and ravaged Southampton

Usage notes

• Generally only used for past-tense statements. In non-past-tense clauses, þonne is used instead.
• When used as an adverb, þā is frequently used as the first element of the clause, with the finite verb immediately following it as the second, although exceptions exist.

Conjunction

þā

1. when, since, because, where
   • early 11th century C.E. Ælfwine’s Prayerbook:

     hio wæs feowortyne geara eald þa hio Crist acende

     she was 14 years old when she gave birth to Christ

Usage notes

• Does not mean "when" in the interrogative sense. For questions, hwonne is used instead.
• Generally only used for past-tense statements. For "when" in non-past-tense clauses, þonne is used instead.
• Often doubled as þā þā to avoid confusion with the adverb.
• When used as a conjunction, the verb in the following clause typically does not occur immediately after þā (often being found at the end of the clause), unlike when it is used as an adverb.