foretell

«foretell» in Mova's school dictionary: to say what will happen in the future, often by magic… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (foretell, foretells, foretold, foretelling)

meaning for a pupil

1) To foretell something is to say what will happen in the future, often by magic, prophecy or special knowledge. tree →

2) To foretell can also mean to be a sign of something to come. tree →

sense in the lessons

Stories, myths and the Bible (prophets, fortune-tellers, witches foretelling a king's fate). In real life, nobody can truly foretell the future; science predicts using evidence. Phrases: foretell the future, as foretold.

examples

• The old woman claimed to foretell the future. tree →
• In the myth, the oracle foretold the hero's journey. tree →
• (Bible) Christians believe the prophets foretold the birth of Jesus. tree →
• Dark clouds foretell rain. tree →
• Nobody can foretell exactly who will win. tree →
• The legend foretold that a child would pull the sword from the stone. tree →
• A neighbor saw him running and said, “Oh! you fellow there! you say you can foretell the fortunes of others; how is it you did not foresee your own?” tree →

note

Irregular past: foretold (not «foretelled»). Similar: predict, forecast, prophesy. Predict is the science word (based on evidence); foretell sounds magical. Be careful of people who claim to foretell the future for money.

Trees and pragmatics

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