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Glite Dictionary
couldst

couldst

1 9.9
To be an old form used with thou to show ability or possibility
  • auxiliary
  • Archaic
: pudiste
  • If thou couldst help me, I would be most grateful.

Examples

  • Never couldst thou imagine such beauty in this world.

  • Couldst thou lend me thine ear?

  • Tell me, couldst thou forgive such an offense?

  • Thou couldst not leave us so abruptly!

  • If thou couldst help me, I would be most grateful.

  • Couldst thou couldst lend me thine ear?

  • Tell me, couldst thou forgive such an offense?

Surface Forms

couldst past

Morphology

couldst = could (semi-transparent) = could + st

Form is clearly 'could' + the archaic second-person singular ending '-st', but the suffix is archaic/non-productive so modern learners may not reliably infer person from it.

Etymology

Couldst is simply the old 'you' form of could, used with thou, where the ending -st showed 'you' in old English. So couldst means the same as 'could' ('were able to' or 'would be able to') but in old or poetic speech when talking to one person.