Which to use
“gave” and “gives” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #559
- “gave” frequency rank
- #991
- “gives” frequency rank
- 1550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gave | gives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of give | third-person singular simple present indicative of give |
Where the eye mixes gave and gives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. gave (/ɡeɪv/) and gives (/ɡɪvz/) 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 1550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gave is recorded at frequency rank #559, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡeɪv/. gives is at rank #991, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɪvz/.
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 1550, this pair ranks #527,195 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gave vs gives
Shared letters: egv. Private to "gave": a. Private to "gives": is.
"gave" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "gives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC