# govern vs governed

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### govern
*verb · IPA /ˈɡʌv.ən/ · frequency rank #11,709*
To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; to exercise sovereign authority in.

### governed
*verb · IPA /ˈɡəvɚnd/ · frequency rank #8,936*
simple past and past participle of govern

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/govern-vs-governed