Go, Goes, Going, Went or Gone? How To Properly Use This English Verb - Justlearn (2024)

One of the big challenges faced by English language learners is the proper way to use verbs.

If you didn’t grow up learning the rules of English grammar, you might find yourself confused about verb tenses one particularly challenging verb to learn is “go” and its different variations “goes”, “going”, “went” and “gone”.

Common meanings of the word “go”

“Go”, “goes”, “going”, “went”, or “gone” are verbs, words that describe an action. “Go” is the main verb, while the others are its tenses.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the verb “go” means to travel. It’s used to describe the act of moving from one place to another.

It is also used to describe being in the process of moving. Such as when we say “go up” stairs, someone is moving up the stairs.

You can also use “go” if you want to say you are leaving. “I have to go” is a common English phrase that is used to take your leave orsay goodbye.

These are the three most common ways that native English speakers use the word “go”. Simple enough right? What trips many people up is when we bring the tenses in it.

Mostly, go is used in the present tense, so it is something that is happening now. It can be used with first-person and second-person pronouns and in singular or plural.

First Person Singular

I go

Second Person Singular

You go

First Person Plural

We go

Third Person Plural

They go

Go: Future Tense

“Go” can also be used when you are talking in the future tense. The future tense means that you are describing an action that will be taking place in the future.

If you are going to visit the store in the evening, you say:

I will go to the store.

If it is Steve’s turn to go to the store later, you will say:

Steve will go to the store.

“Go” in the future tense can also be used with first person, second person, and third-person pronouns, both singular and plural.

First Person Singular

I will go

Second Person Singular

You will go

Third Person Singular

He/she/it will go

First Person Plural

We will go

Third Person Plural

They will go

Goes: Third-person singular, present tense

Goes is the present tense, third-person singular of the verb “go”.

Since “goes” is a verb in the present tense, you use it when you are describing an action that is happening now. However, since it is the third-person singular, you can only use it if you are describing someone else’s actions.

For example, if you are on your way to the store and someone asks you what you are doing, you use “go”, like so:

I go to the store.

However, if you want to say that Steve is about to go to the store, you use “goes” because you’re talking about an action that someone else is taking.

Steve goes to the store.

You can also use “goes” with third-person singular pronouns.

He/She goes to the store

Going: The Present Participle

A present participle is a word that is formed from a verb with the suffix “-ing” attached. A present participle is either used as an adjective or in verb tenses.

So, “go” plus “ing” is “going”. There aren’t really any common examples of going being used as an adjective, but it is used in plenty of verb tenses. We’ll look at the different verb tenses that “going” can take below

Going: Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense, means your describing an action that is ongoing or that you are in the midst of performing.

“Going” can be used here in the first, second, and third person and singular or plural

First Person Singular

I am going

Second Person Singular

You are going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it is going

First Person Plural

We are going

Third Person Plural

They are going

Going: Past Continuous

“Going” is also used in the past continuous tense. Past continuous is also known as past progressive and you use it to describe a continuing action or when you want to say that something happened at a particular point in the past.

Going can also be used in the first, second, and third person and singular and plural.

First Person Singular

I was going

Second Person Singular

You were going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it was going

First Person Plural

We were going

Third Person Plural

They were going

Going: Future Continuous

Also known as future progressive, the future continuous tense is used when you want to say that something is going to happen in the future and will continue for an expected length of time.

Going in the future continuous tense can also be used in the first, second, and third person and singular and plural.

First Person Singular

I will be going

Second Person Singular

You will be going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it will be going

First Person Plural

We will be going

Third Person Plural

They will be going

Going: Perfect Progressive

The perfect progressive tense is used to describe actions that were:

  • Repeated over a certain time period

  • Continuing in the present and/or

  • Will continue in the future

First Person Singular

I have been going

Second Person Singular

You have been going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it has been going

First Person Plural

We have been going

Third Person Plural

They have been going

Going: Past Perfect

You use the past perfect tense if you want to talk about an action that took place in once or many times before another point in the past.

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First Person Singular

I had been going

Second Person Singular

You had been going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it had been going

First Person Plural

We had been going

Third Person Plural

They had been going

Going: Future Perfect

This tense is used when you are talking about an action that will be completed between now and some point in the future.

First Person Singular

I will have been going

Second Person Singular

You will have been going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it will have been going

First Person Plural

We will have been going

Third Person Plural

They will have been going

Going: A Conditional Verb

Going can also be used as a conditional verb, which is used to create conditional sentences. Conditional sentences describe unlikely or hypothetical situations.

When used as a conditional verb, you can use “going” in the present or the perfect tense.

Present Tense:

First Person Singular

I would be going

Second Person Singular

Would be going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it would be going

First Person Plural

We would be going

Third Person Plural

They would be going

Perfect Tense:

First Person Singular

I would have been going

Second Person Singular

You would have been going

Third Person Singular

He/she/it would have been going

First Person Plural

We would have been going

Third Person Plural

They would have been going

Went: The Past Tense

When we want to say that an action took place in the past and is finished, we use a verb in the past tense.

The past tense of “go” is “went”. So, going back to our example about the store. If someone asked where you were, you can say:

I went to the store

If you want to say that Steve has come from the store:

Steve went to the store

This works with first, second, and third-person pronouns as well, in the singular and plural.

First Person Singular

I went

Second Person Singular

You went

Third Person Singular

He/she/it went

First Person Plural

We went

Third Person Plural

They went

Gone: Past Participle

“Gone” is the past participle of “go”. A past participle is a word formed by a verb with one of the following suffixes: -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n.

You can use “gone” in the present perfect tense, the past perfect tense, and the future perfect tense.

Gone: Present Perfect

A verb in the present perfect tense refers to an action or state that:

  • Happened at an indefinite time in the past

  • Started in the past and continued to the present

The present perfect tense is formed by placing have/has in front of the past participle of the verb. So, in the case of “gone”, it is “has/have gone”.

First Person Singular

I have gone

Second Person Singular

You have gone

Third Person Singular

He/she/it has gone

First Person Plural

We have gone

Third Person Plural

They have gone

Gone: Past Perfect

You use can use “gone” in the past perfect tense if you want to talk about something that was completed in the past.

First Person Singular

I had gone

Second Person Singular

You had gone

Third Person Singular

He/she/it had gone

First Person Plural

We had gone

Third Person Plural

They had gone

Gone: Future Perfect

Gone can also be used in the future perfect tense. The future perfect tense is used if you are talking about an action that will be done before another action happens.

For example, if you want to say you will be going to the store while Steve is in school:

I will have gone to the store by the time Steve gets back from school.

The future perfect tense of “go” is formed by taking the past participle “gone” and adding either “will” or “shall” and “have” before it.

So, you could also have said:

I shall have gone to the store by the time Steve gets back from school

First Person Singular

I will/shall have gone

Second Person Singular

You will/shall have gone

Third Person Singular

He/she/it will/shall have gone

First Person Plural

We will/shall have gone

Third Person Plural

They will/shall have gone

Conclusion

If you really want to learn how to properly use these different verbs and more, you need to practice using them in daily speech. Practice makes perfect after all.

The best way to practice and memorize the rules for when you should use “go”, “goes”, “going”, “went”, or “gone”, it to work on using them in conversation with an online native English-speaking tutor. Your tutor can provide you real-time corrections on your verb usage and your pronunciation and accent. This will help ensure that, when you need to use these words in a conversation, you can confidently “go” to the right one.

Go, Goes, Going, Went or Gone? How To Properly Use This English Verb - Justlearn (2024)

FAQs

How do you use Go Going went? ›

GO, WENT, GONE | What's the difference? | Learn with examples

What is Go Goes gone? ›

The past tense of “go” is “went". Gone” is the past participle of “go”. A past participle is a word formed by a verb with one of the following suffixes: -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n. You can use “gone” in the present perfect tense, the past perfect tense, and the future perfect tense.

What is the correct form of the verb went? ›

Irregular verbs
VerbPast tensePast participle
gowentgone
grindgroundground
growgrewgrown
hang (to suspend)hunghung
132 more rows

Will go or will gone? ›

Senior Member. Yes, "will have gone" is the correct answer. "Will go" doesn't work.

How do you use went in a sentence? ›

[M] [T] She went to the hospital yesterday. [M] [T] They went on a trip a few days ago. [M] [T] He went there instead of his father. [M] [T] I left the rest to him and went out.

What is went with example? ›

Went is defined as to have gone somewhere in the past. An example of went used as a verb is in the sentence, "I went to the store yesterday," which means that I traveled to the store yesterday. (nonstandard) Past participle of go.

Did you go to or went to? ›

Therefore, instead of using “went”(the second form of go), we will use the first form I.e. “go”. So, the sentence, “ Did you go to school?” is grammatically correct. There is a very general verb rule used here and that is; We always use Verbs 1st form with DID in a sentence.

Do we use to with went? ›

The difference between “went” and “used to” is that “went” is a complete past tense verb but “used to” is not a complete verb. The “to” in “used to” must be followed by a bare infinitive to make a complete verb, and the infinitive could be almost anything: “used to walk,” “used to vote,” etc.

Should go or goes? ›

Suggestions expressed using “should” or “ought to” are always followed by a bare infinitive, regardless of whether the sentence is declarative, interrogative or negative. That is infinitive without “to”. So, “ should he go” is the grammatical option.

Would go vs went? ›

Simple statement of fact in the past tense (I went to the beach), modified by an 'adverbial of time' without which no implication of habit exists. 2) I would go to the beach every day during my high school years. Use of the modal verb would to denote a habitual action in the past.

Did not go or went? ›

didn't go, is the only correct one.

How did the event go or went? ›

It's incorrect to say, “How did your day went?” The correct rendition of the sentence is, “How did your day go?” This question is in the past simple tense, using the verbs “did” and “go” to ask about something that occurred in the past and is no longer happening.

Would go vs went? ›

Simple statement of fact in the past tense (I went to the beach), modified by an 'adverbial of time' without which no implication of habit exists. 2) I would go to the beach every day during my high school years. Use of the modal verb would to denote a habitual action in the past.

What is the future tense of go goes? ›

I will go, we will go. You shall go. He, she, it, they shall go.

What is the difference between go and going? ›

Go is the verb use in I, You, We and They. Example: I go, You go, We go and They go. Going is the gerund: go+ing and is used in all the persons with the verb to be, example: I'm going, You're going, He's going, She's going, It's going, We're going, They're going.

Did you go to or went to? ›

Therefore, instead of using “went”(the second form of go), we will use the first form I.e. “go”. So, the sentence, “ Did you go to school?” is grammatically correct. There is a very general verb rule used here and that is; We always use Verbs 1st form with DID in a sentence.

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