---
title: wast — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «wast» in the Early Modern English dictionary: You were; a form of "be" used with "thou". Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# wast

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** You, thou, He, I, Rock, God · **What happens:** be, use, say, tell, not know, beget · **To what, where:** form, thee, God · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«wast» 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: [wast in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/wast.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You were; a form of "be" used with "thou".

<!-- fold The tree, 9 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wast:m1:1
# text = You were; a form of "be" used with "thou".
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
10	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	10	obl:agent	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | You | a form |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | infinitive · passive | 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: 'Who told thee that thou wast naked?

<!-- .note -->
From Torah GEN.3.11, JPS 1917.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wast:x1:1
# text = And He said: 'Who told thee that thou wast naked?
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	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	7	iobj	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	11	nsubj	_	_
11	wast	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
12	naked	naked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	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 |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past |  |  | thee |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent thou=Recipient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I did not know that thou wast anything more than a herdsboy.

<!-- .note -->
From The Jungle Book.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wast:x2:1
# text = I did not know that thou wast anything more than a herdsboy.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wast	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	obj	_	_
9	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
10	than	than	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	herdsboy	herdsboy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | past · do-support | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Of the Rock that begot thee thou wast unmindful, and didst forget God that bore thee.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah DEU.32.18, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wast:x3:1
# text = Of the Rock that begot thee thou wast unmindful, and didst forget God that bore thee.
1	Of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	begot	beget	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	5	obj	_	_
7	thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	8	nsubj	_	_
8	wast	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	unmindful	unmindful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	didst	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
13	forget	forget	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	ccomp	_	_
14	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
16	bore	bear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **beget** | past | the Rock | thee |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thou=Patient |
| 2 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **forget** | infinitive |  | God |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **bear** | past | God | thee |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thou=Patient |

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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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