Give is an irregular verb with three key forms: give as the base form, gave as the past simple, and given as the past participle. Use give for present and infinitive structures, gave for finished past actions, and given with auxiliary verbs like have or be. Mastering which form goes with which helper verb is the main goal of this module.

Use give for the infinitive and for present-time statements with I, you, we, and they. It also appears after modal verbs like can, will, and should, because modals use the base form. In questions and negatives with do and does, the main verb stays in the base form: do give, does give.

Subject	Form	Example
I	give	I give my sister a ride.
You	give	You give good advice.
He	gives	He gives me a call every week.
She	gives	She gives her time to charity.
It	gives	It gives a strange smell.
We	give	We give our guests tea.
They	give	They give discounts in winter.

Use gave for the past simple to describe a completed action at a finished time in the past. It does not combine with have or has. It often appears with clear past time markers like yesterday, last week, or in 2019.

Subject	Form	Example
I	gave	I gave him the keys yesterday.
You	gave	You gave me great feedback.
He	gave	He gave her a gift last month.
She	gave	She gave a short speech.
It	gave	The news gave us hope.
We	gave	We gave the waiter a tip.
They	gave	They gave us directions.

Use given as the past participle, mainly with auxiliary verbs. With have or has it forms the present perfect, and with had it forms the past perfect. Given can also appear in passive structures with be, focusing on the receiver or result rather than the doer.

Rule	Example
Use have or has + given for present perfect	She has given me a chance.
Use had + given for past perfect	They had given us the wrong address.
Use be + given for passive voice	The award was given to Maria.

Give commonly uses two patterns: give someone something and give something to someone. The first pattern is often more natural in everyday speech, especially with pronouns like me, him, and them. The second pattern is common when the thing is long or when you want to emphasize the receiver with to.

Rule	Example
Indirect object first: give someone something	Give me your number.
Use to-phrase: give something to someone	Give the book to your teacher.
Prefer to when the receiver is long or emphasized	She gave the tickets to the people who arrived early.

In the present, questions and negatives use do or does, and the main verb stays give. In the past, questions and negatives use did, and the main verb still stays give, not gave. Only the auxiliary shows the tense in these structures.

Rule	Example
Present question: do or does + give	Do you give your dog treats?
Present negative: do not or does not + give	He does not give excuses.
Past question: did + give	Did she give you the file?
Past negative: did not + give	We did not give them our address.

Perfect tenses use given, not gave, because perfect aspect requires a past participle. The auxiliary have carries the tense, while given stays the same. This helps you choose correctly: if you see have, has, or had, the next form is given.

Rule	Example
Present perfect: have or has + given	I have given you enough time.
Past perfect: had + given	She had given her answer before the call ended.
Future perfect: will have + given	They will have given us an update by Friday.

The passive of give uses given and a form of be. Use it when the focus is on what was given or to whom it was given, and the giver is unknown, unimportant, or mentioned later with by. In passive sentences with two objects, you can often choose either object as the subject depending on what you want to emphasize.

Rule	Example
Basic passive: be + given	The instructions were given clearly.
Receiver as subject	She was given a scholarship.
Thing as subject	A scholarship was given to her.
Optional agent with by	The prize was given by the mayor.

Given also functions as an adjective and as a preposition-like word in formal speech. As an adjective, it means specified or particular. As a discourse marker, given can mean considering or taking into account, often used to introduce a reason or condition.

Rule	Example
Adjective: given means particular or specified	At any given time, one manager is on call.
Formal connector: given means considering	Given the weather, we will stay home.

Give is not only about handing an object to someone; it also expresses causing an effect and providing an opportunity. These meanings follow the same form rules: give in the base, gave in the past, and given in participle structures. Recognizing these extended meanings helps you understand common everyday sentences.

Word/Phrase	Definition	Example
give someone a hand	help someone	Can you give me a hand with this box?
give someone a call	call someone	I will give you a call tonight.
give someone a chance	allow an opportunity	They gave her a chance to explain.
give a speech	deliver a speech	He gave a speech at the ceremony.