Wife Vs. Wive, Which One Should We Use In Writing?

You may want to show possession or use it as a verb. In any case, the usages of ‘wife’ and ‘wive’ will vary. It is easy to misuse these two forms in speech and writing if not familiar with their meanings.

In short, ‘wife’ is a noun and can be used in a possessive form. ‘Wive’ is a verb form used to describe ‘to take as a wife’ or ‘marry a woman.’ You can write my wife’s certificate, or I would like to wive her; I think she is the one. ‘Wives’ is also used as the plural of ‘wife.’

A wife is a female partner who is part of a marital relationship. Both ‘wife’ and ‘wive’ are cognitive semantics. There are cases where you can replace ‘wife’ with ‘wives,’ as they are similar nouns. We will look more in-depth into their different usages.

Origin Of Terms

The first known use of the word ‘wive’ dates back before the 12th century, in the meaning defined as the intransitive verb form of “to marry” a woman.

The history and etymology for ‘wive’ come from Middle English wiven, and the Old English wīfian, from wīf woman, wife.

Of Germanic origin, the word ‘wive’ is from Proto-Germanic *wībam meaning “woman.” In more recent times, it is related to Modern German Weib (woman, female) and Danish viv, telling ‘wife.’

The original meaning of ‘wife’ as simply ‘woman,’ unrelated to marriage or husband, is used in ‘midwife,’ ‘goodwife, ‘fishwife,’ and ‘spaewife.’

It is anticipated that women take their husband’s surname in many cultures. A wedding ring, primarily in Western culture, represents a woman’s marital status. The title of “Mrs” is most commonly used as a respect to a known married woman, although some women choose to be referred to as “Ms.”

Nowadays, the term ‘wife’ still refers to a woman separated from her partner. Because she is still not legally divorced, or the death of her spouse is not recognized, she still carried the title of a ‘wife.’ In the case of the partner’s death, the wife becomes a widow.

Wives have different rights and responsibilities within their status and community based on each particular culture.

How People Use The Terms

‘Wife’ and ‘wives’ are related words that can be used as a possessive form of the singular ‘wife,’ as a verb meaning ‘to take as a wife’; ‘wive’ a woman, or as the plural’ wives.’

“Your wife’s business,” referring to one wife. “Your wives’ families,” in the case that you would have more than one wife.

As a noun, the word ‘wife’ can be used as follows:

• Wife (noun)

A married woman, particularly in relation to her spouse.

• Wife (noun)

A married woman; a man’s partner in marriage.

• Wife (noun)

The female of a pair of coupled animals.

• Wife (noun)

The lawful consort of a man; a woman who is united to a man in wedlock.

A woman who has a husband; a married woman- the correlative of husband

• Wife (noun)

A woman; an adult female; – now used in literature only in some compounds and phrases, as alewife, fishwife, goodwife, and the like.

As a verb, the word ‘wive’ can be used as follows:

• Wive (verb)

To marry a woman

• Wive (verb)

To provide someone with a wife; to match them to a wife

• Wive (verb)

To marry, as a man; to take a wife

• Wive (verb)

To take for a wife; to marry

• Wive (verb)

Take someone as a wife

• Wive (verb)

Marry a woman, take a wife

Examples Of The Phrase In A Sentence

Examples of the word ‘wife’ in a sentence:

1. The Volvo XC60 is my wife’s favorite car.
2. This morning they brought in a new wife for the stallion in the barn.
3. We ran into Tim and his wife at the concert last night.
4. I admire a husband and wife who treat each other with respect in their marriage.
5. Sadly, he and his wife got divorced in the previous year.
6.  Hoping that his wife would forgive him, Abraham bought her a ticket to Europe.
7. His wife was not happy with his financial decisions, and eventually, she decided to leave him.
8. He always listened to his wife’s suggestions; that’s how he overcame the many obstacles in his path.
9. After going to prison, he was never able to see his wife again.
10. Someone once joked that a man brings his wife flowers when he wants her to remember an event or, better yet, forget one.
11. My brother’s wife had two daughters and two sons before they married.
12. His wife is a couple of years older than him; I think they look great!
13. Bryant’s wife is so kind; I will invite her over for dinner sometime.
14. They suffered a tragic accident; he lost his wife five years ago.
15. Carl said that when he saw his wife, it was love at first sight.

Examples of the word ‘wive’ as a verb in a sentence:

1. “If he has the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.” – Portia
2. He must have tried to wive all of them in a year; it is customary in his culture.
3. They should not wive Viking warriors.
4. I was wived too young; I wish I hadn’t agreed to it.
5. I prefer not wiving if this is the woman I am to woo.
6. First thrive and then wive.
7. I hope I can wive her as my wife; she has all the qualities I have ever dreamed of.
8. Gloria and her best friend wanted their children to marry so bad that Gloria’s son ended up wiving her best friend’s daughter.

Examples of the word ‘wife’ in the plural in a sentence:

1. I’m getting married again, but I’ve already had two wives.
2. That’s all poetry and old wives’ talk!
3. Working girls her age were usually wives, or they had managed to escape before such eventuality.
4. Husbands of adulterous wives are advised not to remarry during the lifetime of the guilty party.
5. The team extended the ceremony invitation to the husbands and wives for the charity convention.
6. Dan had three wives, a Greek woman from Athens, Maria, an Italian, and a Native American daughter to the great chief Teres.
7. Eaton is the wife of the secretary of state with whom the wives of the cabinet officers had a confrontation.
8. Do not eat more than one can digest, and do not have more wives or husbands than are needed.
9. It appears that they had a community of wives and lived on funds provided by the more affluent members.
10. He had several sons by different wives, and none wanted to take on his successful business.
11. Both lost their wives to severe illnesses; that is how they became close friends.
12. Men get creative when their wives are at home trying to be everything their husbands expect of them.
13. They carried the wives and children out of the town during the raid.
14. The sight of the mothers, wives, and children was not pretty. The men were going away and the guarantee of them returning was very limited.
15. His two wives, Fatima and Stacy, are both daughters of my uncle.

Conclusion

The usages of ‘wife’ and ‘wive’ may have caused some confusion at some point. However, as an English speaker or someone who just started learning, these terms may have well been in your vocabulary.

Learning the meanings of ‘wife’ and ‘wive’ is a lot faster in the form of sentence examples and, of course, practicing. Hopefully, you have learned the difference between using these words and will be off to applying and writing them correctly!