---
title: methinks — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «methinks» in the Early Modern English dictionary: It seems to me; I think. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# methinks

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**Who acts:** It, I, Tom, methinks · **What happens:** seem, think, say, methink, be, whistle · **To what, where:** me, master, delicious day · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It seems to me; I think.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:methinks:m1:1
# text = It seems to me; I think.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seems	seem	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | present | It |  | me |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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 -->
"Ay," said Tom, "methinks he might be master with you.

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

<!-- fold The tree, 10 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:methinks:x1:1
# text = "Ay," said Tom, "methinks he might be master with you.
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Ay	ay	INTJ	UH	_	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	methinks	methink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	cop	_	_
13	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Tom |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **methink** *in a quote* | present | Tom *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | might | Tom | master |  |  |  | with you | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Today, methinks, is a most delicious day for a poet.

<!-- .note -->
From Andersen's Fairy Tales.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:methinks:x2:1
# text = Today, methinks, is a most delicious day for a poet.
1	Today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	methinks	methink	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	8	advmod	_	_
8	delicious	delicious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	poet	poet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a delicious day |  |  | today | for a poet | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And so, methinks, the Priest may whistle for his money!"

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

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:methinks:x3:1
# text = And so, methinks, the Priest may whistle for his money!"
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
2	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	methinks	methink	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Priest	Priest	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	whistle	whistle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whistle** | may | methinks  the Priest |  |  |  |  | for his money | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient S\_INF»: agent=Agent for money=Recipient |

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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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