givesvsgivethWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gives” and “giveth” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#991
“gives” frequency rank
#48,771
“giveth” frequency rank
49762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gives giveth
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of give third-person singular simple present indicative of give

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gives and giveth apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
gives
6 ch
giveth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

gives and giveth are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gives is recorded at frequency rank #991, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɪvz/. giveth is at rank #48,771, tagged as averb.

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 49762, this pair ranks #180,542 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gives vs giveth

Shared letters: egiv. Private to "gives": s. Private to "giveth": ht.

"gives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "giveth" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • givesggives · gievs · givess · givse · givves · gvies · igves
  • givethggiveth · gievth · giveht · givethh · givetth · givteh · givveth · gvieth

Frequency comparison

gives#991
giveth#48,771

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gives" and "giveth" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "gives" or "giveth"?
"gives" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #991 in our English list, against #48,771 for "giveth". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gives vs giveth

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gives” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list