---
title: wherefore — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «wherefore» in the Early Modern English dictionary: For what reason; in the Torah sometimes it means "therefore". Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# wherefore

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Torah, I, peace, Thou · **What happens:** mean, say, give, covenant, command, separate · **To what, where:** Torah, covenant, thee, three cities · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For what reason; in the Torah sometimes it means "therefore".

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wherefore:m1:1
# text = For what reason; in the Torah sometimes it means "therefore".
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	3	punct	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Torah	Torah	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
8	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	10	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Torah |  |  | the Torah |  | for reason; sometimes *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot therefore=Theme for reason=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace;

<!-- .note -->
From Torah NUM.25.12, JPS 1917.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wherefore:x1:1
# text = Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace;
1	Wherefore	wherefore	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
4	Behold	behold	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	give	give	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	_
10	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	covenant	covenant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	peace	peace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | wherefore *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **give** | present | I | My covenant of peace |  |  |  | unto him *= he* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent covenant=Theme |
| 3 | **covenant** |  | peace |  |  |  |  |  | nom covenant «communication intransitive»: of=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Wherefore did ye tarry so long?"

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

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wherefore:x2:1
# text = "Wherefore did ye tarry so long?"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Wherefore	wherefore	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	ye	ye	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	5	nsubj	_	_
5	tarry	tarry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wherefore I command thee, saying: 'Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.'

<!-- .note -->
From Torah DEU.19.7, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:wherefore:x3:1
# text = Wherefore I command thee, saying: 'Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.'
1	Wherefore	wherefore	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	command	command	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
4	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
6	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
8	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	11	nsubj	_	_
10	shalt	shall	AUX	MD	Style=Arch|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	separate	separate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	ccomp	_	_
12	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **command** | present | I | thee |  |  |  | wherefore *property* | vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.predicate»: agent=Agent thou=Eventuality |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **separate** | shall | Thou | three cities |  |  |  | for thee | vn separate-23.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent city=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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