Meaning

6 senses

  1. (transitive)To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against.

    Please forgive me if my phone goes off - I'm expecting an urgent call from my boss.

    Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.

  2. (transitive)To pardon (something); to waive any negative feeling over or retribution for.

    verzeihen

    проща́тьproščátʹ, прости́тьprostítʹ, извиня́тьizvinjátʹ

    проща́тиproščáty, прости́тиprostýty, пробача́тиprobačáty

  3. (transitive)To waive or remit (a debt), to absolve from payment or compensation of.

    Forgive a debt, that is, tell a debtor that a repayment of a loan is no longer needed.

    absolve from payment

  4. (intransitive)To accord forgiveness.

    stop blaming or grant forgiveness

  5. (transitive)To look past; to look beyond.

    The music critic loves the instrumentation of the song so much that he can forgive the confusing lyrics.

  6. (transitive)To redeem; to offset the bad effects of something.

Examples

1360 sentences

  1. I'll forgive you just this once.

    На цей раз я тебе прощаю. — aandrusiak

    ruНа сей раз я тебя прощаю. — sharptoothed

    deDieses eine Mal werde ich dir vergeben. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Please forgive me for being late.

    Вибачте, що запізнився. — ChickenKiev

    ruПростите меня, пожалуйста, за опоздание. — marafon

    deBitte entschuldigen Sie mein Zuspätkommen. — Wolf

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. I know Tom will forgive me.

    Я знаю, що Том мені пробачить. — deniko

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Tom knows you'll never forgive him.

    Том знає, що ти йому ніколи не пробачиш. — deniko

    ruТом знает, что вы его никогда не простите. — odexed

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Tom is ready to forgive Mary.

    Том готовий пробачити Мері. — deniko

    ruТом готов простить Мэри. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
(transitive) to pardon:
Русский
By meaning 1
(transitive) to pardon:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
(transitive) to pardon:

Origin

Alteration (due to give) of Middle English foryiven, forȝiven, from Old English forġiefan

Alteration (due to give) of Middle English foryiven, forȝiven, from Old English forġiefan (“to forgive, to give”), from Proto-West Germanic *frageban, from Proto-Germanic *fragebaną (“to give away; give up; release; forgive”), equivalent to for- + give (etymologically for- + yive). Cognate with Scots forgeve, forgif, forgie (“to forgive”), West Frisian ferjaan (“to forgive”), Dutch vergeven (“to forgive”), German vergeben (“to forgive”), Icelandic fyrirgefa (“to forgive”), Yiddish פֿאַרגעבן (fargebn, “to forgive”)

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

forgives, forgiving, forgave, forgiven
Base formforgive · to forgive
3rd person singularforgives
Present participleforgiving
Past simpleforgave
Past participleforgiven

irregular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyforgive
he, she, itforgives

Past simpleLesson

all personsforgave

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave forgiven
he, she, ithas forgiven

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill forgive

Word family

10 related words
Relatedforgiver
Derivedforgivabilityforgivableforgivelessforgivenessforgivingmisforgivereforgiveunforgiveunforgiver

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

Collocations

12 patterns
  • never forgive
  • be forgiven for
  • forgiven for doing
  • will ever forgive
  • will be forgiven
  • ever forgive
  • would never forgive
  • will never forgive
  • would be forgiven
  • never forgive myself
  • forgive myself if
  • going to forgive

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
forgetA1forgetfulforgingforgivableforgivenessforgoforkA2

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

forgive — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto