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 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
- 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.