shalt

75 9.9

To show that one person must or will do something in old-fashioned English when speaking with 'thou'

auxiliary
/ʃælt/

Archaic

: deberás

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Examples

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not lie.
If thou shalt listen, wisdom will come to thee.
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thou shalt live long upon the land.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thou shalt live long upon the land.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Synonyms

shouldst

vsshalt

Archaic

2 9.9

To be an old form people used with 'thou' to give advice or talk about duty

expresses stronger obligation or definite future when used in the same form

shouldest

vsshalt

Archaic

1 9.9

To be an old second-person form used with thou to show duty or advice

expresses stronger obligation or definite future when used in the same form

How Obligatory

to must

∞ 1.0

shalt

Archaic

75 9.9

should

∞ 1.0

may

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

shalt infinitive

Morphology

shalt = shall (transparent) = shall + t

An inflectional 2nd-person singular form formed by adding '-t' to 'shall'; meaning is directly predictable as 'shall' used with 'thou', though the form is archaic.

Etymology

Shalt is the old form of shall, coming from an old English word sceal that meant 'must' or 'owe'. So when you read 'thou shalt', it means 'you must' or 'you will', showing duty or future action.