---
title: fain — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «fain» in the Early Modern English dictionary: gladly or willingly. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# fain

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**Who acts:** I, him, king, Arthur · **What happens:** fain, see, have, get, marry, sigh · **To what, where:** him, turn, sight, she, son, food · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
gladly or willingly.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:fain:m1:1
# text = gladly or willingly.
1	gladly	gladly	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	_
2	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	willingly	willingly	ADV	RB	_	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I'd fain see him to have a turn with him."

<!-- .note -->
From More English Fairy Tales.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:fain:x1:1
# text = I'd fain see him to have a turn with him."
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	fain	fain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	turn	turn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fain** | would | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | infinitive | I *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **have** | to-infinitive | him *= he* *not said here* | a turn |  |  |  | with him *= he* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent turn=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
‘I would fain get a sight of the king’s son before he marries,’ sighed she.

<!-- .note -->
From The Lilac Fairy Book.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:fain:x2:1
# text = ‘I would fain get a sight of the king’s son before he marries,’ sighed she.
1	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	fain	fain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	ccomp	_	_
5	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	’s	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
13	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	marries	marry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
18	sighed	sigh	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
19	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fain** | would | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | infinitive | I *not said here* | a sight of the king's son |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sight=Stimulus |
| 3 | **marry** | present | king |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **sigh** | past |  | she |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **sight** |  |  | the king's son |  |  |  |  | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
‘I am weary,’ said Arthur, ‘and till my food is prepared I would fain sleep.

<!-- .note -->
From The Lilac Fairy Book.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:fain:x3:1
# text = ‘I am weary,’ said Arthur, ‘and till my food is prepared I would fain sleep.
1	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	weary	weary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	Arthur	Arthur	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
10	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
12	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
13	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	prepared	prepare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	conj	_	_
17	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
18	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	fain	fain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	xcomp	_	_
20	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | I |  |  |  |  | weary *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Arthur |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **prepare** | present · passive |  | my food |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 4 | **fain** *not said to happen* | would | I | sleep |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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