gave
/ɡeɪv/
"gave" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gave” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #559 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #559
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - simple past of give
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gave |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɡeɪv/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #559 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gave” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gave is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡeɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #559 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for gave, with forms such as "agve", "gaev", and "gavve". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ge", "Gay", "gee", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gaf, yaf, ȝaf, from Old English ġæf, ġeaf. The correct English form is gave, spelled G-A-V-E.
Definition
- 1simple past of give
- 2past participle of give
Etymology
From Middle English gaf, yaf, ȝaf, from Old English ġæf, ġeaf.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: agve,gaev,gavve,ggave,gvae
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gave - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “gave”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-A-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡeɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ge” - see the side-by-side comparison. gave vs ge
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.