Past Tense of Go: Went or Gone?

Go is in the present tense. Went is the simple past, and gone is the past participle.

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What’s the past tense of “go”?

The verb go is when “someone moves or travels from one place to another.”

Go is an irregular verb (does not follow the standard “ed” past tense formation). Went is the simple past tense form; gone is the past participle form.

Examples of “went” in the past tense.

Examples: “Went” in past tense sentences

She went to the party last night.

Last summer, we went camping in the mountains.

He went to the gym for a workout.

The students went on a field trip to the museum.

Verb tenses of go

Look at the following  table for the past tense forms of the verb “go”:

Tense	Past	Present	Future
Simple	I went	I go	I will go
Continuous	I was going	I am going	I will be going
Perfect	I had gone	I have gone	I will have gone
Perfect Continuous	I had been going	I have been going	I will have been going

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• To go is the present tense
• Goes is third-person present singular
• for a run helps me clear my mind
• Went is the simple past
• Will go is the future tense
•  Gone is the past participle

When to use went vs. gone

Both the simple past tense and the past participle are verb forms in English used to describe actions or events that occurred in the past. However, they serve slightly different purposes and are used in different contexts. Compare the following:

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• He went to the store to buy some milk. (simple past)
• The train had already gone when we arrived at the station. (past participle)

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The first sentence in the simple past tense describes the action or event that happened in the past and is now completed. The second sentence uses the past participle and shows the state resulting from the action in the past. 

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“Go”, present tense, used in sentences

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• I go to the gym every morning.
• She goes for a walk in the park after work.
• Going for a run helps me clear my mind.
• We go out for dinner every Friday night.
• Do you know how to go to the library?

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“Went”, past tense, in sentences

• Yesterday, he went to the store to buy groceries.
• They went on a vacation to Hawaii last summer.
• She went to the doctor for her check-up.
• We went for a hike in the mountains.
• He went to the party but left early.

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“Gone”, (past participle), used in sentences

• The train had already gone by the time we arrived.
• The food had been gone from the refrigerator for days.
• The car had been gone for repairs all week.
• The opportunity had been gone before I realized it.
• The package had been gone from the porch when I got home.

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Synonyms of go

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• Travel
• Move
• Proceed
• Depart
• Journey
• Walk
• Drive
• Ride
• Hike
• Sail
• Fly
• Run
• Commute
• Navigate

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Origin of the word go

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From etymology online on go (v.):

Old English gan “to go, advance, depart; happen; conquer; observe,” from Proto-Germanic *gai- (source also of Old Norse ga, Old Frisian gea, Dutch gaan, German gehen), from PIE *ghei-, a suffixed form of the root *ghe- “to release, let go” (source also of Sanskrit jihite “goes away,”