For ever or forever?
for ever is an adverb meaning “Alternative form of forever”; forever is an adverb meaning “For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time”. for ever is written as two words and forever as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between for ever and forever?
| for ever | forever | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adverb | adverb, noun, adjective |
| Meaning | Alternative form of forever | For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time colloquialFor a very long time, a seeming eternity colloquialAn extremely long time |
| Example | none recorded | I shall love you forever |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /fəˈɹɛvə(ɹ)/ /fəˈɹɛvɚ/ /fɚˈɛvɚ/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 55 times per million words |
Sources: for ever and forever in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of for ever and forever
for ever
- 1
Alternative form of forever
forever
- 1
For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time
I shall love you forever
- 2
colloquialAn extremely long time
I haven't seen him in forever!
- 3
informalPermanent, lasting; constant, perpetual
- 4
Alternative form of forever
- 5
colloquialFor a very long time, a seeming eternity
We had to wait forever to get inside
- 6
colloquialA mythical time in the future that will never come
Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th of forever
- 7
Constantly or frequently
You are forever nagging me
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, for ever or forever?
for ever is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; forever 55 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search for ever vs forever?
“for ever vs forever” is searched about 320 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“forever vs for ever”, “for ever or forever”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.