Meaning of "govern" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD GOVERN

From Old French gouverner, from Latin gubernāre to steer, from Greek kubernan.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF GOVERN

ˈɡʌvən

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF GOVERN

Govern is a verb.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb govern in English.

WHAT DOES GOVERN MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Government

A government is the system by which a state or community is governed. In Commonwealth English, a government more narrowly refers to the particular executive in control of a state at a given time—known in American English as an administration. In American English, government refers to the larger system by which any state is organised. Furthermore, government is occasionally used in English as a synonym for governance. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators, and arbitrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political systems and institutions that make up the organisation of a specific government. Government of any kind currently affects every human activity in many important ways. For this reason, political scientists generally argue that government should not be studied by itself; but should be studied along with anthropology, economics, history, philosophy, science, and sociology.

Definition of govern in the English dictionary

The first definition of govern in the dictionary is to direct and control the actions, affairs, policies, functions, etc, of ; rule. Other definition of govern is to exercise restraint over; regulate or direct. Govern is also to be a predominant influence on ; decide or determine.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO GOVERN

PRESENT

Present

I govern

you govern

he/she/it governs

we govern

you govern

they govern

Present continuous

I am governing

you are governing

he/she/it is governing

we are governing

you are governing

they are governing

Present perfect

I have governed

you have governed

he/she/it has governed

we have governed

you have governed

they have governed

Present perfect continuous

I have been governing

you have been governing

he/she/it has been governing

we have been governing

you have been governing

they have been governing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I governed

you governed

he/she/it governed

we governed

you governed

they governed

Past continuous

I was governing

you were governing

he/she/it was governing

we were governing

you were governing

they were governing

Past perfect

I had governed

you had governed

he/she/it had governed

we had governed

you had governed

they had governed

Past perfect continuous

I had been governing

you had been governing

he/she/it had been governing

we had been governing

you had been governing

they had been governing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will govern

you will govern

he/she/it will govern

we will govern

you will govern

they will govern

Future continuous

I will be governing

you will be governing

he/she/it will be governing

we will be governing

you will be governing

they will be governing

Future perfect

I will have governed

you will have governed

he/she/it will have governed

we will have governed

you will have governed

they will have governed

Future perfect continuous

I will have been governing

you will have been governing

he/she/it will have been governing

we will have been governing

you will have been governing

they will have been governing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would govern

you would govern

he/she/it would govern

we would govern

you would govern

they would govern

Conditional continuous

I would be governing

you would be governing

he/she/it would be governing

we would be governing

you would be governing

they would be governing

Conditional perfect

I would have govern

you would have govern

he/she/it would have govern

we would have govern

you would have govern

they would have govern

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been governing

you would have been governing

he/she/it would have been governing

we would have been governing

you would have been governing

they would have been governing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you govern
we let´s govern
you govern

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to govern

Past participle

governed

Present Participle

governing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «GOVERN»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «govern» and belong to the same grammatical category.

administer · bridle · call the shots · call the tune · check · command · conduct · contain · control · curb · decide · determine · direct · discipline · get the better of · guide · handle · influence · inhibit · keep a tight rein on · lead · manage · master · order · oversee · regulate · restrain · rule · subdue · superintend · supervise · sway · tame · underlie

TRANSLATION OF GOVERN

Find out the translation of govern to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of govern from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «govern» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 统治
• Translator English - Spanish: gobernar
• English: govern
• Translator English - Hindi: शासन
• Translator English - Arabic: الحكم
• Translator English - Russian: управлять
• Translator English - Portuguese: governar
• Translator English - Bengali: শাসন ​​করা
• Translator English - French: gouverner
• Translator English - Malay: Memerintah
• Translator English - German: regieren
• Translator English - Japanese: 統治する
• Translator English - Korean: 통치하다
• Translator English - Javanese: Mrentah
• Translator English - Vietnamese: phối
• Translator English - Tamil: ஆட்சி
• Translator English - Marathi: शासन
• Translator English - Turkish: yönetmek
• Translator English - Italian: governare
• Translator English - Polish: rządzić
• Translator English - Ukrainian: управляти
• Translator English - Romanian: guverna
• Translator English - Greek: διέπουν
• Translator English - Afrikaans: regeer
• Translator English - Swedish: regera
• Translator English - Norwegian: styre

10 QUOTES WITH «GOVERN»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word govern.

1

Diane Abbott

In Parliament we debate on and we decide the laws that are going to govern the country.

2

Lord Acton

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern.

3

Susan B. Anthony

No man is good enough to govern any woman without her consent.

4

Joan of Arc

I was in my thirteenth year when I heard a voice from God to help me govern my conduct. And the first time I was very much afraid.

5

Antonio Banderas

I think we are realising that governments can't govern us any more.

6

Michael Beschloss

The founders were very worried that if parties developed in America, you might have something like the modern Italian system, where you have 20 different parties that divide Congress and the country and can't govern.

7

John Mason Brown

America is a land where men govern, but women rule.

8

Tom Coburn

Republicans should simply focus on first principles and give the American people what they want - an honest party dedicated to common sense, fiscal responsibility and limited government. If we govern to save the country, we'll do well as a party.

9

Barry Commoner

What is new is that environmentalism intensely illuminates the need to confront the corporate domain at its most powerful and guarded point - the exclusive right to govern the systems of production.

10

Auguste Comte

The dead govern the living.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «GOVERN»

Discover the use of govern in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to govern and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Polling to Govern: Public Opinion and Presidential Leadership

"Polling to Govern is a thoughtful, detailed, and significant analysis of how six U.S. presidents from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton used public opinion polls to develop presidential leadership.

Diane J. Heith, 2004

The Capacity to Govern: A Report to the Club of Rome

This book diagnoses contemporary governments as obsolete and proposes changes in values, structures, staffing, public understanding and political culture to equip governance for the radically novel challenges of the 21st century.

Yehezkel Dror, 2012

Do the media govern?: politicians, voters, and reporters in ...

Unlike most other treatments, this volume covers the full range of research issues, including the forces that influence the production of news stories, the relationship between reporters and elected officials, the use of the media in ...

Shanto Iyengar, Richard Reeves, 1997

Can the Government Govern?

In so doing, this volume opens the debate and public discussion necessary for change.Contributors include John E. Chubb writing on energy policy, David B. Yoffie on trade policy, Paul E. Peterson and Mark Rom on macroeconomic policy, Samuel ...

John E. Chubb, Paul E. Peterson, 1989

Fit to govern: the native intelligence of Thabo Mbeki

This illuminating examination of South Africa’s democratic leader, Thabo Mbeki, provides unprecedented access to the man and his ideas.

Ronald Suresh Roberts, 2008

Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking and ...

For this new edition, David R. Mayhew has provided a new Preface, a new appendix, and a new concluding chapter that brings the historical narrative up to date. “Important, accessible, and compelling, David Mayhew’s second edition of ...

David R. Mayhew, 2005

"Dividing the Realm in Order to Govern": The Spatial ...

States are inherently and fundamentally geographical. Sovereignty is based on control of territory. This book uses Song China to explain how a pre-industrial regime organized itself spatially in order to exercise authority.

Ruth Mostern, 2011

School, Society, and State: A New Education to Govern Modern ...

In School, Society, and State, Steffes returns the state to the study of the history of education and brings the schools back into our discussion of state power during a pivotal moment in American political development.

Tracy L. Steffes, 2012

The Data Asset: How Smart Companies Govern Their Data for ...

The Data Asset has taken data quality beyond an IT function to the C-level, which, unless this is done, never seems to get accomplished." —Peter Harvey, CEO, Intellidyn "The phrase 'data as a corporate asset' has been adopted by business ...

Tony Fisher, 2009

Learning to Govern: An Institutional View of the 104th Congress

In this book, Richard Fenno makes the case that four decades out of power left Republicans without the experience they needed to properly interpret their electoral victory... or govern the country.This inexperience produced serious ...

Richard F. Fenno

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «GOVERN»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term govern is used in the context of the following news items.

Rules should be framed by NIS to govern workers in the mining …

The core objective of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is to provide social security to poor and vulnerable employees wherever they work. «Stabroek News, Jul 15»

GUEST COLUMN: God's law given to govern man

The theory was that God's law was supreme. The phrase is a reference to the laws that God in his capacity as creator gave to govern man. «Northwest Georgia News, Jul 15»

Springborg: LNP is ready to govern now

Springborg: LNP is ready to govern now. Date: July 12, 2015 - 1:53PM. 5 reading now; (29); Comments 61; Read later ... «Brisbane Times, Jul 15»

State abdicating its role to govern and entrusting violent groups to …

State abdicating its role to govern and entrusting violent groups to take over. By Anyang' Nyong'o Updated Sunday, July 12th 2015 at 00:00 ... «The Standard Digital News, Jul 15»

July 10: Next to govern? Plus other letters to the editor

No one should assume that, if no party wins a majority in the next election, the party with the most seats will automatically form a minority ... «The Globe and Mail, Jul 15»

Toronto council votes to create new rules to govern both Uber and …

Toronto council votes to create new rules to govern both Uber and taxis. Staff told to craft bylaw to apply to all, which mayor warns might be ... «Hamilton Spectator, Jul 15»

GOP proposing awful bills, then backing down is terrible way to govern

Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature appear to have gotten stuck in a bizarre form of governing and they can't seem to stop ... «Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3, Jul 15»

Tantrums pretending to govern

When Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras decided to call a referendum on a bailout offer from Greece's creditors – an offer that expired before ... «The News Journal, Jul 15»

New rules govern retention of records

Beginning July 1, 2015, the University requires “Proof of Records Retention Compliance” as mandated under the University Archives and ... «Penn State News, Jul 15»

Internal Auditors Get Revised Global Framework to Govern Practice

The Institute of Internal Auditors has unveiled the latest enhancements to its nearly 70-year-old framework that governs the internal audit ... «Compliance Week, Jul 15»