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The Verb "Forgive" in English

by Craig Shrives

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Conjugation of "To Forgive"

The verb "forgive" is an irregular verb. (This means that "forgive" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To Forgive"

Form	forgive	Alternative Name
Base Form	forgive	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	forgives	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	forgave	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	forgiving	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	forgiven	[no alternative name]

"To Forgive" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "forgive" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	forgave forgave forgave forgave forgave forgave The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was forgiving were forgiving was forgiving were forgiving were forgiving were forgiving The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had forgiven had forgiven had forgiven had forgiven had forgiven had forgiven The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been forgiving had been forgiving had been forgiving had been forgiving had been forgiving had been forgiving The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	forgive forgive forgives forgive forgive forgive The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am forgiving are forgiving is forgiving are forgiving are forgiving are forgiving The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have forgiven have forgiven has forgiven have forgiven have forgiven have forgiven The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been forgiving have been forgiving has been forgiving have been forgiving have been forgiving have been forgiving The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will forgive will forgive will forgive will forgive will forgive will forgive The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be forgiving will be forgiving will be forgiving will be forgiving will be forgiving will be forgiving The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have forgiven will have forgiven will have forgiven will have forgiven will have forgiven will have forgiven The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been forgiving will have been forgiving will have been forgiving will have been forgiving will have been forgiving will have been forgiving The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Printable Test

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

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The Verb "Forgive" in English

Conjugation of "To Forgive"

The Five Forms of "To Forgive"

"To Forgive" in All the Tenses

Past Tenses

Present Tenses

Future Tenses

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Most Common Irregular Verbs

See Also