Which to use
“forgive” and “forgiven” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,672
- “forgive” frequency rank
- #11,891
- “forgiven” frequency rank
- 16563
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forgive | forgiven |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against. | past participle of forgive |
Where the eye mixes forgive and forgiven
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: forgive vs forgiven
A purely visual mix-up. forgive (/fə(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/) 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 extra letter(s) - “forgive” sits inside “forgiven”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forgive is recorded at frequency rank #4,672, classified as averb, pronounced /fə(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/. 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 16563, this pair ranks #456,972 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of forgive vs forgiven
Shared letters: efgiorv. Private to "forgive": -. Private to "forgiven": n.
"forgive" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "forgiven" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "forgive" and "forgiven" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "forgive" or "forgiven"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "forgive" 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 #456,972 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forgive" and "forgiven" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forgave vs forgiven". 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 #456,972 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.