whence
part of speech
adverb (whence — old-fashioned, formal)
meaning for a pupil
1) (old-fashioned) From where: «Whence did he come?» means «Where did he come from?». tree →
2) (formal) From which place or reason: «the town whence she came». tree →
3) (formal) Which is why: «He was late, whence the trouble.» tree →
sense in the lessons
You mostly meet «whence» in old stories, poems, the Bible and fairy tales, where it gives an old, grand feel. In modern speech people use «where … from» instead. In the Bible: «I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help» (Psalm 121, King James Version). Related old words: «hence» (from here), «thence» (from there), «whither» (to where).
examples
- «Whence came you, stranger?» asked the old king. tree →
- The river flows back to the mountains whence it came. tree →
- In the old poem the knight returned to the land whence he had set out. tree →
- «From whence cometh my help?» we read in the psalm. tree →
- Nobody knew whence the strange noise came. tree →
- Today we would say «Where did you come from?» instead of «Whence came you?» tree →
- "Whence do you come?" asked the mother. tree →
note
Strictly «whence» already means «from where», so «from whence» repeats «from» — but it is very common in old texts and the Bible, so it is not wrong there. Do not confuse with «when» (time) or «hence» (so, from here). Do not use it in normal writing; it sounds very old.
In the corpora
- Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
- and Pathrusim, and Casluhim — whence went forth the Philistines — and Caphtorim.
- I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?
- Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
- For the years that are few are coming on, and I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «whence» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.