---
title: canst — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «canst» in the Early Modern English dictionary: Are able to, used with thou. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# canst

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**Who acts:** He, Thou, man, I · **What happens:** be, use, say, not see, live, not run · **To what, where:** face, Me · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«canst» in the Early Modern English dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [canst in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/canst.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Are able to, used with thou.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:canst:m1:1
# text = Are able to, used with thou.
1	Are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
2	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | with thou | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And He said: 'Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.'

<!-- .note -->
From Torah EXO.33.20, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:canst:x1:1
# text = And He said: 'Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.'
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
5	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	9	nsubj	_	_
7	canst	can	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
10	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
14	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
15	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	17	advmod	_	_
17	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	parataxis	_	_
18	Me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **see** | can | Thou | My face |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer face=Stimulus |
| 3 | **not** **see** | shall | man | Me |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer i=Stimulus |
| 4 | **live** | present | man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I cannot run as thou canst."

<!-- .note -->
From Grimm's Fairy Stories.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:canst:x2:1
# text = I cannot run as thou canst."
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	7	nsubj	_	_
7	canst	can	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **run** | can | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And who canst thou place before the only one?

<!-- .note -->
From Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:canst:x3:1
# text = And who canst thou place before the only one?
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
3	canst	can	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	5	nsubj	_	_
5	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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**Text:** the Early Modern English dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova; its examples quote public-domain texts. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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