Proved is not a word

When it comes to making a new friend, would you say she has proven trustworthy or she has proved trustworthy? The common phrase innocent until proven guilty may come to mind—so does this mean proven is acceptable and proved is not? The answer may surprise you. Although we sincerely hope you don’t have reason to use this particular legal phrase in your own personal life, you should familiarize yourself with the differences and similarities between proved and proven, two commonly confused words.

The history of proved vs. proven

The debate between Team Proved and Team Proven has been going on for centuries. Both words are forms of the verb prove, which means “to establish truth through evidence or argument.” Both words are past participles, which basically means they completed actions that took place in the past. A past participle is frequently used with a helping verb (like has, have, or had), as in I had proved my point.

Let us lend you a helping hand in figuring out when to use have vs. has.

Proved is the older form of the word. Proved is both a past participle and also the past tense of prove. I proved you wrong is an example of the word being used in the past tense. When proved is used as the past tense, it could never be exchanged with proven.

But proved and proven both function as past participles, so they cause confusion. Why is that? Well, basically, over time the word prove developed a second past participle form: proven. Geoffrey Chaucer used proven in his works from the 1300s, but it wasn’t that quickly accepted in the literary world. Proven was mostly used in legal contexts for a long time. In the 1800s, British poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson used it frequently in his work. So we can assume it had caught on by then. But proved remained much more common in written work since 1750 and up until the 1980s, when the two began to appear in similar numbers.

How do you use proved and proven?

Today, both proved and proven are now considered correct. Still, two major style guides, The Chicago Manual of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook, prefer proved as the past participle. Throughout the 1800s, grammar guides recommended proved over proven, and that advice has stuck with us to a certain extent.

Proven is most commonly used as an adjective before the noun it modifies. For example: The new team owner has a proven track record of success in the business world. Here, proven describes (or modifies) track record. Another example would be Honey is a proven remedy for a sore throat. In this case, proven describes the type of remedy honey is.

As a past participle, proven is the accepted form in Scotland and the preferred form throughout North America. Proved tends to be the word of choice in England, although even the British use proven on occasion. Some familiar phrases (like innocent until proven guilty) are readily accepted as correct by both American and British style guides.

Some grammar experts will insist that proven should only ever be an adjective. However, its use as a past participle of prove is widely accepted by dictionaries and style guides.

At the end of the day, proved and proven are pretty much interchangeable. You can basically go with whichever sounds best with the rhythm and flow of the sentence.

Verb conjugation is difficult even for experienced English writers. There are nearly 200 irregular verbs in English, so it would be an ambitious endeavor to try to memorize them all.

Prove is one such irregular verb. Proved and proven both see use in this verb’s past tense conjugations, but which one is the better choice?

What is the Difference Between Proved and Proven?

In this post, I will compare proved vs. proven. I will show you example sentences for each variation of this verb and guide you on the best choice for your writing.

Plus, I will outline a helpful memory tool that you can use as a trick to remember whether to use proved or proven in a sentence.

When to Use Proved

What does proved mean? Prove is a past tense form of the verb prove, which means to show evidence for something.

Proved is the simple past and past participle form of this verb, as you can see from the sentences below,

• Yesterday, Eric proved his impressive skills by outselling the rest of the sales force combined.
• “I have proved you wrong through indisputable logic!” claimed the debate team leader.
• But how do you attract high-quality team members before you’ve proved your company’s viability through funding, revenue or customers? –The Wall Street Journal

Proved is useful for all past tense conjugations of prove, including the following tenses,

• Simple past: I/we/you/he/she/they proved
• Past participle: I/we/you/he/she/they have proved
• Past perfect: had proved

Proved never functions as an adjective: only a verb.

When to Use Proven

What does proven mean? Proven is the adjective form of proved, denoting something that has been demonstrated.

Here are a few examples,

• Major league baseball managers entrust their late-inning bullpen work to proven performers who will get outs without allowing runs.
• “I don’t want Carol as an administrative liaison; she is a proven liability,” said Marcus.
• There is no proven treatment, he said. It is not clear that plasma exchange helps. –The New York Times

Occasionally, some writers use proven instead of proved as the past participle form of prove. This is much more common in American English than British English (In British English, proved remains the sole standard past participle.)

For example,

• “I have proven my critics wrong beyond any shadow of a doubt,” asserted the comeback player of the year.
• “I resent this line of questioning, because I have already proven these accusations to be false,” said the defendant.

As the Oxford English Dictionary states,

For complex historical reasons, prove developed two past participles: proved and proven. Both are correct and can be used more or less interchangeably.

As with most usage debates, not everyone agrees. For instance, The AP Stylebook states,

Use proven only as an adjective: a proven remedy.

That said, the usage of proven as past participle has grown in recent years.

These charts graph proven vs. proved in English books since the year 1800. Proved is still ahead across World English, but the two uses might eventually meet.

As for today’s writing, especially formal writing, it is best to stick to the traditional rule that AP Style lays down.

• Use proved as a past participle.
• Use proven as an adjective.

It should be noted, however, that the phrase innocent until proven guilty is so common that it must count as an exception to this rule. As you can see below, in this specific phrase, proven is much more common than proved.

Trick to Remember the Difference

If you need an adjective, proven is your only choice. Proved never functions as an adjective. This is an easy choice.

Similarly, if you need a simple past verb, proved is the only correct word. Another easy choice.

For past participles, though, the situation is not so clear. Both proved and proven are commonly used as past participles. Even though proved has a longer history as a past participle and is used more often, there is no universal rule against using proven. Some places discourage its use, while others do not.

With British audiences, proved is still probably a better choice since it is much more widely used than proven. You should probably also default to proved with American audiences since major U.S. style guides like The AP Stylebook still make the preference quite clear.

Since proved and default both contain the letter D, you should find it easy to remember that proved is the default past participle of prove.

Summary

Is it proven or proved? The confusion around these two words surrounds their use as a past participle.

• Proved is the simple past tense and past participle of the verb prove, which means to show evidence for something.
• Proven is the adjective form of this word, and can be used as a past participle in some instances.
• Most places prefer proved as a past participle and proven as an adjective.