Went Meaning
/wɛnt/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbsimple past of go
verbpast participle of go
Sentence Examples
This is my friend Rachel. We went to high school together.
It has been so long since I last went to Disneyland with my family.
The train went slower and slower until it stopped altogether.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After hearing the loud noise, the dog ____ outside to investigate the source.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They ____ to the beach last weekend and had a wonderful and very relaxing time in the sun today.
Word Origin & History
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)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1671, Elisha Coles, chapter 7, in ΧΡΙΣΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ: Or, a Metrical Paraphraſe on the Hiſtory of Our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt : Dedicated to His Univerſal Church, page 22:
"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."
— 1851, Abel F. Fitch, Report of the Great Conspiracy Case […] , Advertiser and Free Press, page 145:
"I just sat around and watched, then decided to go see Safid; we planned to study that day, but first we had a good ride around town. We must have went fifteen miles, and Safid was ready to sit and study; we went to a little park and started working."
— 2010 June 14, Douglas Nix, Al-Qaeda Hunter, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 22:
"But here my wearie teeme, nigh over spent, / Shall breathe it selfe awhile after so long a went."
— 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After hearing the loud noise, the dog ____ outside to investigate the source.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They ____ to the beach last weekend and had a wonderful and very relaxing time in the sun today.