go
/ɡəʊ/verb, noun, adjective
go is spelled G-O: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 1,072 times per million words in written English, the 100th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, go means “To move through space (especially to or through a place). (May be used of tangible things such as people or cars, or intangible things such as moods…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in go?
| Letters | 2: G-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 1,072 times per million words; the 100th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is go?
Go appears 1,072 times per million words in written English, the 100th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce go?
- UK /ɡəʊ/
- /ɡə/
- /ɡu/ [ɡʊw]
Go has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-to_go.ogg, En-us-go.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_go.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with go
Also written: get ready, get set, go, goe, on your marks, get set, go.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with go?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as go from its last stressed vowel (/əʊ/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of go
- goes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- going participle, present
- went past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- gone participle, past
- gan
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does go mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To move through space (especially to or through a place). (May be used of tangible things such as people or cars, or intangible things such as moods or information.)
Why don’t you go with us?
- 2
To move or travel through time (either literally–in a fictional or hypothetical situation in which time travel is possible–or in one's mind or knowledge of the historical record). (See also go back.)
Yesterday was the second-wettest day on record; you have to go all the way back to 1896 to find a day when more rain fell.
- 3
To navigate (to a file or folder on a computer, a site on the internet, a memory, etc.).
For the best definitions, go to wiktionary.org
- 4
To move (a particular distance, or in a particular fashion).
We've only gone twenty miles today.
- 5
To move or travel in order to do something, or to do something while moving.
We went swimming.
- 6
To leave; to move away.
Please don't go!
- 7
To follow or proceed according to (a course or path).
Let's go this way for a while.
- 8
To travel or pass along.
We went the full length of the promenade before we found a place to sit down.
noun
- 1
The act of going.
- 2
A turn at something, or in something (e.g. a game).
You’ve been on that pinball machine long enough–now let your brother have a go.
- 3
An attempt, a try.
I’ll give it a go.
- 4
A period of activity.
ate it all in one go
- 5
A time; an experience.
- 6
datedslangA circumstance or occurrence; an incident, often unexpected.
- 7
An approval or permission to do something, or that which has been approved.
We will begin as soon as the boss says it's a go.
- 8
An act; the working or operation.
- 9
A strategic board game, originally from China and today also popular in Japan and Korea, in which two players (black and white) attempt to control the largest area of the board with their counters.
adjective
- 1
Working correctly and ready to commence operation; approved and able to be put into action.
noun
- 1
Initialism of graphene oxide.
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of go (“strategic board game”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Go in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | aller , fonctionner, marcher , devenir , s’en aller, partir |
| German | gehen , verschwinden, weggehen, fortgehen , dran sein, ziehen |
| Portuguese | ir , funcionar, andar , virar , vez, turno |
| Spanish | ir , hacerse, ponerse , desaparecer , destruir , hacer |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does go come from?
From Middle English gon, goon, from Old English gān (“to go”), from Proto-West Germanic *gān, from Proto-Germanic *gāną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”). The inherited past tense form yode (compare Old English ēode) was replaced through suppletion in the 15th century by went, from Old English wendan (“to go, depart, wend”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).