Verb forms
Base form
/ɡɪv/
Past Simple
/ɡeɪv/
Past Participle
/ˈɡɪvən/
Example sentences
Base form · give
- They give money to charity every Christmas.
Past Simple · gave
- She gave me a book for my birthday.
- She gave without any hesitation.
- They gave it again the following morning.
- He didn't give anything at the meeting.
Past Participle · given
- He has given up smoking at last.
- By the time we arrived, they had given everything.
- We have never given anything quite like it.
- He has given it many times before.
Common collocations
give up
to stop trying
give a hand
to help someone
give advice
to offer guidance
Key tenses
| Present Simple | Past Simple | Present Perfect |
|---|---|---|
I give he / she / it gives | I gave | I have given |
| Present Continuous:I am giving · he / she / it is giving | ||
Grammar guide
The verb "give" is fully irregular — all three principal parts are distinct: the base form "give", the past simple "gave", and the past participle "given". The ABC group contains many of the most common and important verbs in English, so learning them is essential for fluency.
Use the past simple "gave" for actions, events, or states that were completed at a definite point in the past. It is the main verb in the clause and needs no auxiliary: "We gave the whole project in three days." Typical time markers include yesterday, last week, ago, when, and at + a specific time. The past simple is the most frequently used past tense in spoken and written English.
The past participle "given" is never used on its own as a main verb. It appears in: (1) the present perfect with have/has — "I have never given anything like it before"; (2) the past perfect with had — "She had already given before I arrived"; (3) passive voice with a form of be — "The final version was given by the whole team." These three structures together cover the great majority of perfect and passive constructions in English.
The ABC group demands the most memorisation because each verb has three unique forms to learn. Focus first on the highest-frequency verbs: be (was/were/been), do (did/done), go (went/gone), know (knew/known), take (took/taken), see (saw/seen), give (gave/given), and write (wrote/written). Regular reading and listening is the most effective way to make ABC verb forms automatic — passive exposure reinforces the patterns far better than drills alone.
Quick quiz
Which sentence is correct?
Conjugation pattern
All three forms are different — this group needs the most practice.
Verbs with the same pattern