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Go is a word commonly used in literature and students will encounter many of its definitions. Many uses of this word involve leaving a location or being in movement. Most people have to leave their home to go to work or school. When you travel to a friend’s house you are going somewhere.
Another use of the word go relates to people’s body or behavior. For example, go as in to lose bodily strength or go as in energy or spirit. Narratives often focus on characters that are full of spirited energy because they can have unusual or interesting lives full of rich lessons. Other stories may highlight the changes a body can go through, like losing ones hearing or eyesight.
Go does not have a Spanish cognate. The word go originates from the Old English word gán, relating to the Middle High German word gân and the Dutch word gaan. Go may not have a Spanish cognate, but many synonyms of go do. For example, the cognate of proceed is proceder.
Went and gone are also connected to the word go because go is often used as an irregular verb. Went is the simple past and gone is the past participle of go. For example, “Frankie went to the library after school on Wednesday” or “Frankie had gone to the library many times before he checked out a book.” Students will encounter went and gone in literature, too.