strove
- 1Past tense of strive.
The young scientist strove to replicate the results before the deadline.
Reformers strove against entrenched interests throughout the decade.
Note
Here the verb changes its vowel instead of adding -ed. The form carries every meaning of strive: earnest effort (strove to finish), open contention (strove against entrenched interests), and rivalry (strove with one another for the prize). It stands on its own, with no auxiliary. After have or had, careful writers switch to striven.
- 2Nonstandard past participle of strive; standard English uses striven or strived.
She had strove for recognition for decades before the award arrived.
By then the team had strove through countless setbacks to reach the final.
Note
Using the simple past in place of the participle has a long pedigree. Andrew Sowle's A Rational Catechism (1687) has "have strove to out-wit one another," and Abraham Lincoln wrote "they have strove to hinder it" in his 1863 letter to James Conkling. Today it reads as colloquial and nonstandard. In careful writing, keep the simple past for plain past events and use striven after have or had.
strove is a form of strive
strive, verb: To make a strenuous effort to achieve a result, trying earnestly and persistently. Full entry
- Spelling
- strive → strove: irregular (no -ed)
Use it in a sentence
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