Forgive past tense

Meaning of forgive

to stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake.

Infinitive

Word: forgive /fərˈɡɪv/

Examples:

1. She always forgives him, no matter the mistake.
2. He forgives easily, never holding a grudge for long.
3. Forgiveness is important; she forgives, but never forgets.

Past Simple

Word: forgave /fɔːˈɡeɪv/

Examples:

1. She finally forgave him for forgetting her birthday after he apologized sincerely.
2. I forgave myself for the mistake and learned from the experience.
3. We forgave our neighbors for the late-night noise as soon as they explained the situation.

Past Participle

Word: forgiven /fərˈɡɪvən/

Examples:

1. The apology was sincerely given, and she was finally forgiven for her mistakes.
2. All debts have been forgiven as part of the financial amnesty program.
3. Mistakes made in the past are often forgiven but seldom forgotten.

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Bare infinitive

To describe a habit or a general truth.
Example. 'She always forgives easily.'
Example. 'He forgives his friend tomorrow at the mediation meeting.'
To express a scheduled event in the near future (often used with a time expression).
Example. 'She always forgives easily.'
Example. 'He forgives his friend tomorrow at the mediation meeting.'

Past Simple

To talk about a specific action or situation that was completed in the past.
Example. 'She forgave him yesterday after he apologized.'
Example. 'Back in those days, he often forgave easily, but not anymore.'
To describe a past habit or a repeated action in the past.
Example. 'She forgave him yesterday after he apologized.'
Example. 'Back in those days, he often forgave easily, but not anymore.'

Past Participle

To form the perfect tenses, including the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect.
Example. Present Perfect. 'She has finally forgiven him for what happened.'
Example. Past Perfect. 'By the time she called, he had already forgiven her.'
Example. Future Perfect. 'She will have forgiven him by the time we meet again.'
Example. 'He was forgiven by his colleague before they parted ways.'
To form the passive voice.
Example. Present Perfect. 'She has finally forgiven him for what happened.'
Example. Past Perfect. 'By the time she called, he had already forgiven her.'
Example. Future Perfect. 'She will have forgiven him by the time we meet again.'
Example. 'He was forgiven by his colleague before they parted ways.'
Each of these examples illustrates the correct usage of the verb 'forgive' in various contexts and sentence constructions, shedding light on their specific applicability in conveying properly structured expressions in English.
Example. Present Perfect. 'She has finally forgiven him for what happened.'
Example. Past Perfect. 'By the time she called, he had already forgiven her.'
Example. Future Perfect. 'She will have forgiven him by the time we meet again.'
Example. 'He was forgiven by his colleague before they parted ways.'

Common mistakes

— 01

Incorrectly using forms

A common mistake with the verb 'forgive' is using its simple past form 'forgave' instead of the correct past participle form 'forgiven' in perfect tenses. For example, some might incorrectly say, 'I have forgave you,' instead of the correct form, 'I have forgiven you.' The error arises from not distinguishing between the simple past, which is used for the basic narration of past events, and the past participle, which is necessary for forming perfect aspect tenses and passive voice constructions.

— 02

Misusing the past participle

Conversely, some individuals mistakenly use 'forgiven' as if it were the simple past form. For instance, they might say, 'Yesterday, I forgiven him for his mistake,' instead of the correct, 'Yesterday, I forgave him for his mistake.' This mistake typically stems from confusion over the verb forms or a misunderstanding of their proper applications in different tenses.

— 03

Consistently using the base form

Another common error is neglecting to change the verb form from the base form 'forgive' to its past forms when referring to past events. A person might say, 'Last week, I forgive them,' instead of using the correct past tense, 'Last week, I forgave them.' This mistake often happens due to either a lack of knowledge of the correct past tense forms or an oversight in tense agreement within the sentence.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the past simple form of 'forgive'?

The past simple form of 'forgive' is 'forgave'. It is used to describe an action that happened and was completed in the past. For example, 'Yesterday, I forgave my friend for what happened.'

What is the past participle form of 'forgive'?

The past participle form of 'forgive' is 'forgiven'. It is often used with auxiliary verbs (have, has, had) to form perfect tenses. For example, 'I have forgiven him for his mistake.'

Can you provide an example sentence using 'forgave' in a past simple tense?

Certainly! Here's an example. 'Last week, she forgave her brother for losing her book.' In this sentence, 'forgave' indicates that the act of forgiving happened at a specific time in the past (last week).

How can I use 'forgiven' in a sentence correctly?

'Forgiven' is used in perfect tenses. For a correct usage, pair it with an auxiliary verb. Here are examples. Present Perfect. 'He has finally forgiven himself for the accident.' Past Perfect. 'By the time she apologized, I had already forgiven her.' Future Perfect. 'By next year, I will have forgiven them for their actions.' Remember, the choice between 'forgave' and 'forgiven' depends on the tense you're using and the structure of your sentence.