---
title: suffer — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «suffer» in the Early Modern English dictionary: To let something happen or to permit it. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# suffer

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**Who acts:** something, Thou, They · **What happens:** let, happen, permit, not suffer, live, complain · **To what, where:** something, it, sorceress, me, sons, thou · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To let something happen or to permit it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:suffer:m1:1
# text = To let something happen or to permit it.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	permit	permit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | to-infinitive |  | something |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **happen** | infinitive | something *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **permit** | to-infinitive | something *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- .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 shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah EXO.22.18, JPS 1917.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:suffer:x1:1
# text = Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.
1	Thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	4	nsubj	_	_
2	shalt	shall	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	suffer	suffer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sorceress	sorceress	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **suffer** | shall | Thou | a sorceress |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sorceress=Stimulus |
| 2 | **live** | to-infinitive | Thou *not said here* | a sorceress *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They complain most who suffer least.

<!-- .note -->
From Aesop's Fables; a new translation.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:suffer:x2:1
# text = They complain most who suffer least.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	complain	complain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	suffer	suffer	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	least	least	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **complain** *speech: other* | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn complain-37.8 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **suffer** | present |  |  |  |  |  | least *property* | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou done foolishly.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah GEN.31.28, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:suffer:x3:1
# text = and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou done foolishly.
1	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
2	didst	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	suffer	suffer	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	kiss	kiss	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
8	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	daughters	daughter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
14	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	_
15	hast	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
16	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	15	obj	_	_
17	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	advcl	_	_
18	foolishly	foolishly	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **suffer** | past · do-support |  | me |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer i=Stimulus |
| 2 | **kiss** | to-infinitive |  | my sons and my daughters |  |  |  |  | vn marry-36.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Co-Agent |
| 3 | **have** | present |  | thou |  |  | now |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thou=Patient |
| 4 | **do** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | foolishly *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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