go

[ɡəʊ]

/[ɡəʊ]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“go” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,193) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,193
frequency rank, German
5,117
“G” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - gehen, sich fortbewegen: gehen, fahren, fliegen…

Corpus desk

Index DE-go · go · German

go · rank #3,193 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,193
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,117
  • PHOTO-FINISH Geschlecht

Nearest frequency peer: Geschlecht (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “go”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “go” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

go vs gs
50% similar
go vs GV
0% similar
go vs gz
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for go
PropertyValue
Headwordgo
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ɡəʊ]
Letters2
Frequency rank#3,193
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “go” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).goliegt hier:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Geschlecht“ (#3,192), „hinterher“ (#3,194), „gelangen“ (#3,191). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for go is neighbouring look-alikes ("gs", "GV", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced [ɡəʊ]. Frequency #3,193 among 5,117 “G” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for go, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gs", "GV", "gz", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is go, spelled G-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    gehen, sich fortbewegen: gehen, fahren, fliegen…
  2. 2
    mit (etwas) fahren/fliegen
  3. 3
    (X) heißen, unter dem Namen (X) gehen / bekannt sein
  4. 4
    gehen, weggehen: einen Ort oder eine Zusammenkunft verlassen
  5. 5
    los!

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how go appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Yesterday I went to school very early.
  2. At Easter George and I went to Ireland for the weekend with John and Cynthia Lennon. We flew from Heathrow to Shannon […]

Synonyms

movetravelfarejourneycalledknownleavedepart

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "go"?
"go" is spelled G-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ɡəʊ].
What does "go" mean?
As a verb, "go" means: gehen, sich fortbewegen: gehen, fahren, fliegen…
What words are commonly confused with "go"?
"go" is commonly confused with "gs", "GV", "gz". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "go"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "go" is [ɡəʊ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "go" come from?
"go" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

What to do next

You've looked up "go". Here's where to go from here.

  • "go" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "gs". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #3,193 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "G" letter cohort. G–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list