Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

gave

/ɡeɪv/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.25 in modern English

Syllables: gave
IPA: /ɡeɪv/

8

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

simple past of give

verb

past participle of give

Colloquial

Example Sentences

"I gaue thee Life, and rescu'd thee from Death."
"The superior degree of confidence towards Harriet, which this one article marked, gave her severe pain."
"With the Oxford canal at the bottom of his garden, regular canoeing excursions gave him enormous pleasure."
"Well I suppose you will wonder what has happened to change my mind and if somebody has gave me a birthday present of $600.00 or something."
"Mr. Green. No; not to my recollection, Senator. I may have gave Frank Prince some for his wife, or something like that."
"I'm talking about redundancies, he said, that's what I'm talking about. And yous better get bloody used to the idea. One of the men shrugged: Ach well, we knew it was coming. That's as maybe but they should've gave us notice. Formal."

Etymology

From Middle English gaf, yaf, ȝaf, from Old English ġæf, ġeaf.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: gaf, ġæf

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ɡeɪv/
British English: /ɡeɪv/

Usage

Colloquial

Frequently Paired Words

given

Rhymes With

save they've wave dave brave slave grave cave behave shave rave crave

Questions

How do you pronounce gave?: The recorded pronunciation is /ɡeɪv/.
What does gave mean?: simple past of give
Where does gave come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce gave

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “gave”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɡeɪv/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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