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Forever vs Ever - What's the difference?

forever | ever | Derived terms |

Ever is a derived term of forever.



As adverbs the difference between forever and ever

is that forever is for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time while ever is always.

As a noun forever

is an extremely long time.

As an adjective ever is

occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.

forever

English

Alternative forms

* for ever

Adverb

(-)
  • (duration) for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time.
    • ''I shall love you forever .
  • * 1839 , Denison Olmsted, A Compendium of Astronomy Page 95
    • Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to move forever , unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion.
  • (duration, colloquial) for a very long time, 'an' eternity.
    • ''We had to wait forever to get inside.
  • (frequency) constantly or frequently.
    • ''You are forever nagging me.
  • * 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 5
    • Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.

    Usage notes

    * In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the spelling for ever'' may be used instead of ''forever'' for the senses "for all time" and "for a long time". In Canada and the United States, generally only ''forever is used, regardless of sense.

    Synonyms

    * always * continually * eternally * evermore * for good * forevermore * for ever more * incessantly * until Kingdom come

    Derived terms

    * foreverness

    Related terms

    * everlasting * every * everyday * never * nevermore * whatever * whenever * whoever

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An extremely long time.
  • *
  • * 2007 , Ruth O'Callaghan, Where acid has etched
    • In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouth forevers , the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull.
  • (colloquial) a mythical time in the infinite future that will never come.
    • ''Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th of forever .

    ever

    English

    (wikipedia ever)

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Always.
  • :
  • *
  • *:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever -renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
  • At any time.
  • :
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=3 , passage=Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.}}
  • In any way.
  • :
  • (lb)
  • :

    • Derived terms

    (terms derived from ever) * e’er * everchanging * everlasting * everloving * evermind * ever-present * ever since * ever smoker * ever so * every * forever, for ever, for ever more * for ever and ever, forever and ever * happily ever after * however * never * never ever * whatever * whatsoever * whenever * whichever * whoever

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (epidemiology) Occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.
  • * 1965 , Reuben Hill, The family and population control: a Puerto Rican experiment in social change
    • This family empathy measure is highly related to ever use of birth control but not to any measure of continuous use.

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * English frequency adverbs English intensifiers 1000 English basic words ----