Which to use
“forgave” and “forgiven” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,466
- “forgave” frequency rank
- #11,891
- “forgiven” frequency rank
- 39357
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forgave | forgiven |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of forgive | past participle of forgive |
Where the eye mixes forgave and forgiven
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: forgave vs forgiven
A purely visual mix-up. forgave (/fə(ɹ)ˈɡeɪv/) and forgiven (/fəˈɡɪv.n̩/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forgave is recorded at frequency rank #27,466, classified as averb, pronounced /fə(ɹ)ˈɡeɪv/. forgiven is at rank #11,891, tagged as averb, pronounced /fəˈɡɪv.n̩/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 39357, this pair ranks #277,456 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of forgave vs forgiven
Shared letters: efgorv. Private to "forgave": a. Private to "forgiven": in.
"forgave" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "forgiven" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "forgave" and "forgiven" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "forgave" or "forgiven" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "forgave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "forgiven" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,456 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forgave" and "forgiven" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forgave vs forsake". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #277,456 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.