forever
part of speech
adverb (forever; UK also «for ever»)
meaning for a pupil
1) For all time, with no end: «I'll love you forever». tree →
2) Informal: for a very long time: «The queue took forever». tree →
3) Again and again, all the time: «He's forever losing his keys». tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It often means for all future generations, as in "a statute forever," a law that is to last for as long as the people exist. Interpretation: Tradition reads "statute forever" as a lasting commandment. In Sefer Yetzirah, God ruling "forever and ever" speaks of the One God who is beyond time. In the primary lessons: In stories: «happily ever after», «friends forever». In science: some things change slowly but nothing on Earth stays exactly the same forever — mountains wear down, stars burn out. In everyday talk: «It took forever» means it was very slow. Phrases: forever and ever, take forever, gone forever, best friends forever, last forever.
examples
- 'Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. (Torah LEV.10.9, JPS 1917) tree →
- covenant with bini and with his seed forever. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- The only One Master, God, the faithful King, rules over them from His holy abode forever and ever. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- We'll be best friends forever. tree →
- Dinosaurs are gone forever. tree →
- The car journey took forever. tree →
- Plastic can stay in the ocean almost forever. tree →
- He's forever forgetting his lunch. tree →
- I wish summer would last forever. tree →
- Once you delete it, it may be gone forever. tree →
- Things you post online can stay there forever. tree →
- Yes, he is forever following people. tree →
note
One word in US English; UK English uses both «forever» and «for ever». «Took forever» is an exaggeration, not a real time. In online safety: posts and photos can last forever even if you delete them.
In the corpora
- A surprise ends soon and makes someone happy; a bad secret is meant to be kept forever.
- Death means the body has stopped working forever; it is not sleep, and the person cannot come back.
- Death means the body has stopped working forever, and the person cannot come back.
- Death means the body has stopped working forever; the person or animal cannot come back.
- Death means the body has stopped working forever and cannot start again; it is not the same as sleeping.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «forever» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.