verb · neutral

forgive

UK/fəˈɡɪv/US/fərˈɡɪv/for·GIVE

Band 6-7speakingtask2

to stop feeling angry toward someone for an offense or mistake; to pardon

Examples

She forgave him for lying about the incident.

It's hard to forgive yourself after making a serious mistake.

The manager forgave the employee’s late submission this once.

Band 8 sentence

In post-conflict societies, the ability to forgive can be a crucial step toward reconciliation and social healing.

Collocations

  • forgive someone for something
  • forgive and forget

Word family

forgive base verbforgave past simpleforgiven past participleforgiving present participle / adjective

Common mistakes

She have forgiven him already.She has forgiven him already.

He forgived his friend.He forgave his friend.

I forgive you yesterday.I forgave you yesterday.

Say it for a higher band

5excuse6pardon7+forgive

Synonyms

pardon

excuse

Easily confused

pardon

The president pardoned the prisoner.

Related words

Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.

In Irregular forms

Learn it with its set