Past tense of forgive
irregular verb
The past tense of forgive is forgave. The past participle is forgiven.
Forms of forgive
| Base form (V1) | forgive /fə(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | forgave /fə(ɹ)ˈɡeɪv/ |
| Past participle (V3) | forgiven /fəˈɡɪv.n̩/ |
| Present participle | forgiving |
| Third person singular | forgives |
Forgave and forgiven in a sentence
- In several months you’re likely to have a clearer picture on how your state intends to treat your forgiven PPP loan and the deductibility of your business expenses not just for tax year 2020 but also tax year 2021.2021 February 23, Jeanne Sahadi, “So you got a PPP loan? Here’s what that means for your state taxes”, in CNN Business
- She forgave him the pain as he filled the cavity in her back molar.2005, Wendy Coakley-Thompson, What You Won't Do for Love, published 2006, →ISBN, page 10. From the entry fill
- Then a year and a half ago mom forgave and forgot.'2002, Jack Womack, Going, Going, Gone, page 73. From the entry forgive and forget
- Even though my husband forgave me and gave me another chance, I still continue to see my affair.2012 February 3, “I Am Having An Affair With My Best Friend”, in The Experience Project. From the entry affair
- He forgave her in the end; but it cost him an effort and he nursed his grievance for three whole days.1976 [1862], Victor Hugo, “Part Three: Marius; chapter VI”, in Norman Denny, transl., Les Misérables, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books…. From the entry time heals all things
Meaning of forgive
- verb To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against.
- verb To pardon (something); to waive any negative feeling over or retribution for.
- verb To waive or remit (a debt), to absolve from payment or compensation of.
Verbs like forgive
Questions about the past tense of forgive
- What is the past tense of forgive?
- The past tense of forgive is forgave.
- What is the past participle of forgive?
- The past participle of forgive is forgiven.
- Is forgive a regular or irregular verb?
- Forgive is an irregular verb: its past tense is not formed with -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: forgive (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of forgive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/forgive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.