Go Past Tense: Went vs Gone

What's the past tense of "go"?

The simple past tense of go is went, and the past participle is gone. Use went for simple past tense and gone for past participle forms.

Definition of go

The Oxford English Dictionary defines go as "to move from one place to another, especially to a place that is away from the speaker or the place where the speaker is." It's one of the most commonly used verbs in English and has many associated meanings.

• The past tense of go is went.
• The past participle of go is gone.

Verb forms of 'go'

Is "go" a regular or irregular verb?

The verb go is highly irregular. Its past tense form went and past participle gone are entirely different words from the base form go in spelling and sound. This is why people are often confused with the verb forms of "go" - unlike regular verbs that simply add -ed, go has completely different forms for each tense.

Similar irregular verbs

Other verbs in English follow a similar pattern to go, with completely different forms for past tense and past participle:

When to use "went" vs. "gone"

She went into her room and shut the door behind her.

I had gone to the store before you called.

The verb go uses different forms for simple past tense and present or past perfect), it requires an auxiliary verb like have, has, or had. The simple past doesn't use a helper verb since it's a complete tense, so went can stand alone in sentences, whereas participles require an auxiliary verb.

Sentence examples: go, went, gone

Synonyms & nearby words

Origin of the verb, go

Old English gan "to advance, walk; depart, go away; happen, take place; conquer; observe, practice, exercise," from West Germanic *gaian.

Practice: Go, went, gone