went
/wɛnt/
"went" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“went” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #300. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #300
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - simple past of go
Corpus desk
Index EN-went · went · English
went · rank #300 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #300
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH try
Nearest frequency peer: try (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “went”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- side
side
99,704 corpus weight
- though
though
99,703 corpus weight
- try
try
99,702 corpus weight
- went
went
99,701 corpus weight
- yes
yes
99,700 corpus weight
- actually
actually
99,699 corpus weight
What this shows “went” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | went |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /wɛnt/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #300 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “went”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around went (IPA /wɛnt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #300 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for went, with forms such as "ewnt", "wennt", and "wentt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wt", "win", "won", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Originally the simple past and past participle of wend, but now the past of go due to suppletion. While wend is akin to wind, compare typologically Russian смота́ться (smotátʹsja), сма́тываться (smátyvatʹsja), умота́ть (umotátʹ), ума́тывать (umátyvatʹ) (aki… The correct English form is went, spelled W-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1simple past of go
- 2past participle of go
- 3simple past and past participle of wend
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how went appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
When they arrived whither they were bent, / He made as if he farther would have went. / But they conſtrain'd him, ſaying, Night is near; / Abide with us; and ſo he tarry'd there.
I went from Filley's to Fitch's house, to talk of oxen; no one went with me; might have went to the mill; don,t remember whether I rode back to Laycock's or not to dinner.
Etymology
Originally the simple past and past participle of wend, but now the past of go due to suppletion. While wend is akin to wind, compare typologically Russian смота́ться (smotátʹsja), сма́тываться (smátyvatʹsja), умота́ть (umotátʹ), ума́тывать (umátyvatʹ) (akin to мота́ть (motátʹ)).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ewnt
- wennt
- wentt
- wetn
- wnet
- wwent
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of went - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "went", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).