forgive
verb/fəˈɡɪv/
/fərˈɡɪv/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they forgive | /fəˈɡɪv/ /fərˈɡɪv/ |
| he / she / it forgives | /fəˈɡɪvz/ /fərˈɡɪvz/ |
| past simple forgave | /fəˈɡeɪv/ /fərˈɡeɪv/ |
| past participle forgiven | /fəˈɡɪvn/ /fərˈɡɪvn/ |
| -ing form forgiving | /fəˈɡɪvɪŋ/ /fərˈɡɪvɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to stop feeling angry with somebody who has done something to harm, annoy or upset you; to stop feeling angry with yourself
- forgive somebody Can you ever forgive me?
- forgive yourself I'd never forgive myself if she heard the truth from someone else.
- forgive somebody/yourself for something I'll never forgive her for what she did.
- forgive somebody/yourself for doing something She never forgave him for losing her ring.
- forgive (something) I can't forgive that type of behaviour.
- We all have to learn to forgive.
- forgive somebody something She'd forgive him anything.
Extra Examples- I couldn't forgive him.
- I suspect that Rodney has never quite forgiven either of them.
- He fell to his knees and begged God to forgive him.
- Donna would not easily forgive Beth's silly attempt to trick her.
- An insult like that isn't easy to forgive.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- quite
- ever
- never
- …
- be able to
- be unable to
- can
- …
- for
- forgive and forget
- [transitive] used to say in a polite way that you are sorry if what you are doing or saying seems rude or silly
- forgive me Forgive me, but I don't see that any of this concerns me.
- forgive me for doing something Forgive me for interrupting, but I really don't agree with that.
- forgive my… Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly does the company do?
- forgive my doing something (formal) Forgive my interrupting but I really don't agree with that.
- [transitive] forgive (somebody) something (formal) (of a bank, country, etc.) to say that somebody does not need to pay back money that they have borrowed
- The government has agreed to forgive a large part of the debt.
Word OriginOld English forgiefan, of Germanic origin, related to Dutch vergeven and German vergeben, and ultimately to for- and give.
Idioms
See forgive in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee forgive in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishsomebody could/might be forgiven for doing something
- used to say that it is easy to understand why somebody does or thinks something, although they are wrong
- Looking at the crowds out shopping, you could be forgiven for thinking that everyone has plenty of money.
forgive and forget
- to stop feeling angry with somebody for something they have done to you and to behave as if it had not happened
- I know what he did was wrong but don’t you think it’s time to forgive and forget?
- He was not the sort of man to forgive and forget.
More Like This Alliteration in idiomsAlliteration in idioms- belt and braces
- black and blue
- born and bred
- chalk and cheese
- chop and change
- done and dusted
- down and dirty
- in dribs and drabs
- eat somebody out of house and home
- facts and figures
- fast and furious
- first and foremost
- forgive and forget
- hale and hearty
- hem and haw
- kith and kin
- mix and match
- part and parcel
- puff and pant
- to rack and ruin
- rant and rave
- risk life and limb
- short and sweet
- signed and sealed
- spick and span
- through thick and thin
- this and that
- top and tail
- tried and tested
- wax and wane
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forgive