How to Use govern in a Sentence

govern

verb
  • The council governs fishing in the region.
  • They want to form their own country and govern themselves.
  • We will be studying the forces that govern the Earth's climate.
  • He allows himself to be governed by his emotions.
  • How would he govern if he were elected president?
  • She suggested changing the state's laws governing the sale of alcohol.
  • Tradition governs all aspects of their lives.
  • The tribe is governed by a 10-member council.
  • The scandal limited her ability to govern effectively.
  • The new school will be governed by a board of trustees.
    — Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
  • But the rules can’t govern the place the work comes from.
    — David O’Neill, New Yorker, 20 May 2026
  • Moore governs one of the bluest states in the country.
    — Francesca Chambers, USA Today, 19 Feb. 2026
  • Are there rules governing their use?
    — Michele Heisler, The Conversation, 4 Feb. 2026
  • So what are the rules that govern who gets an honorary street name and who doesn’t?
    — Courtney Astolfi, cleveland, 30 Nov. 2022
  • Looks like our sport is safe in the hands of our governing bodies.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Looks like our sport is safe in the hands of our governing bodies.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2026
  • The rules governing the flow of goods through the Gulf have changed.
    — Kelsey Warner, semafor.com, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Those taxes are governed by their own states’ court systems and laws.
    — Robert Raiola, Sportico.com, 27 Sep. 2025
  • That's what's being governed here.
    — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2025
  • On your sister-in-law’s birthday, her rules will govern.
    — Judith Martin, Dallas Morning News, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Freeing a country is not the same as governing it by proxy.
    — Boris Muñoz, Time, 12 Jan. 2026
  • That means very clear rules governing how AI should be used.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 4 May 2026
  • Few hard rules govern their refund practices.
    — Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 24 May 2026
  • An appeals court had ruled that Spanish law should govern the case.
    — David Lautersenior Editor, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2022
  • In the end, these three will be governed by their fundamentals.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 31 May 2026
  • Such rules governing how the city must treat the system have proved inescapable.
    — Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026
  • Neither looks assured of having enough votes to govern alone.
    — Colleen Barry, ajc, 13 Aug. 2022
  • There were states that changed the rules governing the elections, all in the name of Covid.
    — Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 7 June 2023
  • Truss came in with a clear plan but squandered her own mandate to govern in just 44 days.
    — Jon Haworth, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2022
  • At the same time, though, those tribes are seeing new threats to their efforts to govern themselves.
    — Simon Romero, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'govern.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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