---
title: couldst — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «couldst» in the Early Modern English dictionary: Was able to, with "thou" as the subject. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# couldst

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**Who acts:** Thou, Pots, mother · **What happens:** be, conquer, do, bury, not hide, cry · **To what, where:** Circe, thou, Pots, sister · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«couldst» 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: [couldst in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/couldst.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Was able to, with "thou" as the subject.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:couldst:m1:1
# text = Was able to, with "thou" as the subject.
1	Was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
2	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
9	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	subject	subject	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Thou only couldst have conquered Circe.

<!-- .note -->
From Tanglewood Tales.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:couldst:x1:1
# text = Thou only couldst have conquered Circe.
1	Thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	5	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
3	couldst	could	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	conquered	conquer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	Circe	Circe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conquer** | could · perfect | Thou | Circe |  |  |  |  | vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent circe=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pots of money didst thou bury but thou couldst not hide them.

<!-- .note -->
From Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:couldst:x2:1
# text = Pots of money didst thou bury but thou couldst not hide them.
1	Pots	pot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	didst	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	4	obj	_	_
6	bury	bury	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	11	nsubj	_	_
9	couldst	could	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	hide	hide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
12	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | Pots of money | thou |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bury** | infinitive | Pots of money *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **hide** | could | thou | Pots *= pot* |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"O mother, mother," cried Cadmus, "couldst thou but have seen my sister before this hour!"

<!-- .note -->
From Tanglewood Tales.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:couldst:x3:1
# text = "O mother, mother," cried Cadmus, "couldst thou but have seen my sister before this hour!"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	O	o	INTJ	UH	_	3	discourse	_	_
3	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
8	cried	cry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	Cadmus	Cadmus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	couldst	could	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
13	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	16	nsubj	_	_
14	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	conj	_	_
17	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	before	before	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	21	det	_	_
21	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cry** *speech: express* | past | mother and mother |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | could · perfect | thou | my sister |  |  | hour |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sister=Stimulus |

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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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