give

give

give / gave / given / giving

To give something is to provide it to another person. The source of the giving can be a person or a thing.   

a. give = to provide a thing or a gift

  • My son gave a book to me for my birthday. 
  • Habib gave Sarah some flowers on their anniversary. 
  • The company gave a bonus to all of its employees. 
  • You can give money to a charity. 
  • Companies give a salary to employees. 
The word order for these sentences is S + V + O. Following the objects are prepositional phrases. 
gift, new year's eve, congratulation
  • 1. He gave a gift to her.  
  • 2. He gave her a gift. 

1. S + V + DO + to + IO

2. S + V + IO + DO 

S = subject

V = verb

DO = direct object 

IO = indirect object 

b. give = to provide a service, benefit, problem

  • My mother gave me some words of advice. (benefit) 
  • Bob’s skills give him confidence. (benefit) 
  • The barber gave the man a haircut. (service) 
  • The mechanic gave the car a tuneup.  (service) 
  •  This is giving me a headache. (problem) 
  • All of that pizza gave Valerie a stomachache. (problem) 

The word order for these sentences is S + V + IO + DO. The indirect object is the thing or the person that receives the direct object. 

lecture, presentation, event
  • 1. He’s giving a presentation to his staff. 
  • 2. He’s giving his staff a presentation.  
haircut, barber, hairstyle
  • 1. The barber a haircut to the young man. 
  • 2. The barber gave the young man a haircut. 

c. Use "give up" as a phrasal verb.

There are a few phrasal verb created with “give” and a preposition. 

  • The side that was losing the war finally gave up. (They surrendered.) 
  • Don’t ever give up. (give up = quit) 
  • Leona gave up eating ice cream. (give up = stop a habit) 
  • Vick refused to give in when his supervisor wanted to change his schedule. (give in = accept a bad situation. The phrasal verb “give in” is similar to “give up.)  

Return to the Irregular Verbs page.