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Glite Dictionary
wouldst

wouldst

10 9.9
To express 'would' when speaking to one person with 'thou' in old English
  • auxiliary
  • Archaic
: quisieras
  • Wouldst thou accompany me?

Examples

  • If thou wouldst grant me this favor, I shall be forever grateful.

  • He asked, 'How wouldst thou respond to such a challenge?'

  • Tell me, why wouldst thou leave so suddenly without a word?

  • Thou wouldst be wise.

  • If thou wouldst grant me this favor, I shall be forever grateful.

  • Tell me, why wouldst thou leave so suddenly without a word?

  • He asked, 'How wouldst thou respond to such a challenge?'

Synonyms

wouldest
vswouldst
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To show a wish or something that might happen with thou in old English

is the shorter archaic second person form used with thou in requests or statements

Surface Forms

wouldst infinitive

Morphology

wouldst = would (semi-transparent) = would + st

Formed from the modal 'would' with the archaic second-person singular ending '-st'; the relation is clear but the ending is archaic and restricted to 'thou', which may be unfamiliar to many learners.

Etymology

Wouldst is an old, poetic form of would used with 'thou' (the old 'you'). It is just would plus the old ending -st that marks 'you', so wouldst simply means 'you would'.