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Irregular Verb in English, Past Tense of Go: Go - Went - Gone

"Go" is a commonly used verb in English. In the following article, let's explore what "go" means, what the past tense of "go" is, and the list of idioms and phrasal verbs related to "go."

I. What is "Go"?
II. What Are the Forms V0, V2, and V3 of "Go"? The Past Tense of "Go" in English
III. How to Conjugate the Verb "Go"
1. 1. Conjugation of "Go" in Different Tenses
2. 2. Conjugation of “Go” in special sentence structures
IV. Phrasal Verbs with "Go" in English
V. Idioms with "Go" in English
VI. Exercises on Conjugating the Verb "Go" with Answers

I. What is "Go"?

In English, "go" is pronounced /ɡoʊ/ and functions as both a verb and a noun. What does "go" mean? Refer to the table below for more information!

Part of speech	Meaning	Example
Verb	to move or travel from one place to another	I need to go to the supermarket.
	to leave a place; to depart	They went home after leaving the party.
	to function, to operate	The car won't go.
	to develop or progress	How is the project going?
	to happen or take place	The meeting went well.
	to act according to a plan, rule, or principle	Things didn’t go as planned.
Noun	an attempt or effort	Let me have a go at fixing the computer.
	a turn to do something	It’s your go now in the game.
	energy or liveliness	Jack's always full of go in the morning.

II. What Are the Forms V0, V2, and V3 of "Go"? The Past Tense of "Go" in English

What is the past tense of "go"? V0, V2, and V3 refer to: the base form, the simple past, and the past participle, respectively. Let’s take a closer look at the V0, V2, and V3 forms of "go" in the table below:

Verb form		Example
V0	Go /ɡoʊ/	I go to school every day.
V2	Went /went/	I went to the school yesterday.
V3	Gone /ɡɑːn/	I have gone to the school.

III. How to Conjugate the Verb "Go"

What is the past tense of "go"? How is the verb "go" conjugated in the 12 tenses of English and in special structures? Let's explore this below!

1. Conjugation of "Go" in Different Tenses

12 tenses in English	I	He/She/It	We/You/They
Present simple tense	Go	Goes	Go
	I go to the gym every day. He goes to work early. We go to the park on Sundays.
Present progressive tense	Am going	Is going	Is going
	I am going to the store right now. He is going to the doctor’s office. We are going on a trip tomorrow.
Present perfect tense	Have gone	Has gone	Have gone
	I have gone to that restaurant before. He has gone home already. We have gone hiking many times.
Present perfect progressive tense	Have been going	Has been going	Have been going
	I have been going to the gym for two years. He has been going to school since 7 AM. We have been going to the same coffee shop for weeks.
Past simple tense	went	went	went
	I went to the movies last night. He went to Paris last year. We went to the beach last summer.
Past progressive tense	Was going	Was going	Were going
	I was going to call you when you arrived. He was going home when I saw him. We were going to the concert when it started raining.
Past perfect tense	Had gone	Had gone	Had gone
	I had gone to bed before the phone rang. He had gone home before dinner. We had gone to the park before it got dark.
Past perfect progressive tense	Had been going	Had been going	Had been going
	I had been going to that school for years before I moved. He had been going to the same café for months. We had been going on hikes every weekend before the weather changed.
Future simple tense	Will go	Will go	Will go
	I will go to the store tomorrow. He will go to the meeting next week. We will go to the concert together.
Future progressive tense	Will be going	Will be going	Will be going
	I will be going to the mall this afternoon. He will be going to the office by 9 AM. We will be going on a trip next week.
Future perfect tense	Will have gone	Will have gone	Will have gone
	I will have gone by the time you arrive. He will have gone home by 7 PM. We will have gone to the airport before noon.
Future perfect progressive tense	Will have been going	Will have been going	Will have been going
	I will have been going to that gym for 3 years by next summer. He will have been going to work early for months by then. We will have been going on hikes for a year by next spring.

2. Conjugation of “Go” in special sentence structures

Special Structure	I	He/She/It	We/You/They
Conditional Sentences
Second conditional - Main Clause	would go	would go	would go
Second conditional - Main Clause	If I had more money, I would go on vacation.
Second conditional 2 - Alternative Main Clause	might go	might go	might go
Second conditional 2 - Alternative Main Clause	If I had more free time, I might go to the gym more often.
Third conditional - Main Clause	would have gone	would have gone	would have gone
Third conditional - Main Clause	If I had known about the party, I would have gone.
Third conditional - Alternative Main Clause	might have gone	might have gone	might have gone
Third conditional - Alternative Main Clause	If you had invited me, I might have gone with you.
Subjunctive Mood
Subjunctive expressing present situation	go	go	go
Subjunctive expressing present situation contrary to fact	would go	would go	would go
Subjunctive expressing past situation contrary to fact	would have gone	would have gone	would have gone
Example	I suggest that she go to the doctor. If I were rich, I would go on a world tour. If I had known about the concert, I would have gone.

IV. Phrasal Verbs with "Go" in English

In addition to the past tense of "go," let's explore the list of phrasal verbs with "go" in the table below!

Phrasal verb with Go	Meaning	Example
go about something	to start or continue doing something.	Anna went about her work as if nothing had happened.
go against something/ someone	to oppose or act contrary to something or someone.	It’s difficult to go against your parents’ wishes.
go ahead	to proceed with something; to continue after a pause or delay.	You can go ahead and start the meeting without me.
go along	to agree with or accept something.	I decided to go along with their plan even though I had doubts.
go around	to move from one place to another, often in a circular route.	There's not enough food to go around, so we need to share carefully.

Feel free to refer to more phrasal verbs with "go" at the Cambridge Dictionary!

V. Idioms with "Go" in English

In addition to the past tense of "go," let's explore some common idioms with "go" below:

Idioms with "Go"	Meaning	Example
go easy on someone	to treat someone gently or with tolerance.	The teacher went easy on Jack because he was having a rough day.
go for it	to try hard to achieve something; to put in your best effort.	If you really want the job, you should go for it!
go from bad to worse	to deteriorate further; to get progressively worse.	After losing his job, things went from bad to worse when his car broke down.
go it alone	to do something independently, without help from others.	John decided to go it alone and start his own business.
go out of your way	to make an extra effort to do something.	Emi went out of her way to make sure we felt welcome at her house.

Feel free to refer to more idioms with "go" at the Cambridge Dictionary!

VI. Exercises on Conjugating the Verb "Go" with Answers

To better understand the usage and conjugation of the past tense of "go," let’s complete the exercise below!

Exercise: Conjugate the verb "go" in the parentheses.

Anna always ______ (go) to school by bus.
I usually ______ (go) to the gym after work.
They ______ (go) to the park every weekend.
Susan ______ (go) to the library now.
We ______ (go) to the mall at the moment.
Jack ______ (go) to his friend’s house right now.
Last summer, we ______ (go) to the beach.
John ______ (go) to the store yesterday.
They ______ (go) on a trip two weeks ago.
I ______ (go) to the meeting tomorrow.
They ______ (go) to the party next weekend.
Emi ______ (go) to the concert tonight.
Jennie ______ (go) to Italy three times.
I ______ (go) to that restaurant before.
They ______ (go) to the museum recently.

Answer key:

goes
go
go
is going
are going

is going
went
went
went
will go

will go
will go
has gone
have gone
have gone

In this article, PREP has shared comprehensive knowledge about the past tense of "go." Stay tuned with PREP to keep updating useful English knowledge!

Master Tu Pham

Founder/CEO at Prep

Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.