alas

«alas» in Mova's school dictionary: A word that shows sadness, sorrow or regret: «Alas, it… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

interjection (alas)

meaning for a pupil

1) (old-fashioned or literary) A word that shows sadness, sorrow or regret: «Alas, it was too late.» tree →

2) (humorous) Used today in a joking way for small disappointments. tree →

sense in the lessons

Found in old stories, poems and fairy tales: «Alas! The prince was gone.» In The Wind in the Willows and Alice the word fits the grand, old-style storytelling voice. In modern writing it is often slightly funny: «Alas, the cake was all eaten.» It tells the reader something sad or disappointing has happened.

examples

• Alas, the ship sank before it reached the shore. tree →
• «Alas! I shall be too late!» cried the White Rabbit. tree →
• I wanted to go to the beach, but alas, it rained all day. tree →
• Alas, poor Toad was locked in the deepest dungeon. tree →
• Alas, there was no chocolate left in the box. tree →
• The knight looked for the dragon, but alas, it had flown away. tree →
• Alas, a great deal too near! tree →

note

Usually at the start of a sentence, followed by a comma. Mostly in writing, rarely in everyday chat (except for a joke). Not a sound word like «ah»; it means sorrow.

In the corpora

• Alas! what am I saying?
• And he took up his parable, and said: Alas, who shall live after God hath appointed him?
• And he laid his carcass in his own grave; and they made lamentation for him: 'Alas, my brother!'
• And his servant said unto him: 'Alas, my master! how shall we do?'

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «alas» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.