gå
Meaning
go; walk; run; progress; work; leave, begin; play; show
In Swedish: förflytta sig (till fots)
Conjugation
| Infinitive | att gå | to go |
|---|---|---|
| Present | går | jag går |
| Past | gick | jag gick |
| Supine | gått | used after har / hade |
| Perfect | har gått | jag har gått |
| Past perfect | hade gått | jag hade gått |
| Future | ska gå | or: kommer att gå |
| Conditional | skulle gå | jag skulle gå |
| Imperative | gå! | a command |
| Present participle | gående | -ing, used as an adjective |
| Past participle | gången | used like an adjective, and agrees like one |
Passive (-s form)
| Infinitive | gås |
|---|---|
| Present | gås |
| Past | gicks |
| Supine | gåtts |
Group 4: strong and irregular verbs. Strong verbs change their vowel and have a supine in -it (skriva, skrev, skrivit); irregular ones such as göra and ha follow no pattern. Both have to be learned one by one. Swedish verbs don't change for person: jag, du, hon, vi and de all use går. See the four verb groups explained.
Practise gå
1 / 2Yesterday I … (gå). Which is the past tense?
gå in a sentence
- han har gåtthe has left
- tiden gårthe clock is ticking
- gå förbigo past
- gå ut och gågo out for a walk
- det här går aldrig välthis will never work
- bilen går intethe car doesn't work
- tåget går kl 10the train departs at 10 o'clock
- Var går filmen?Where is the film showing?
Expressions
- gå på ett utmake no difference
- gå vidaremove on
- gå i krasbreak
- gå i låssucceed
- gå i arvbe passed on (from generation to generation)
Questions
What does gå mean in English?
gå means “go, walk”.
What is the past tense of gå?
The past tense of gå is gick (“jag gick”). The supine is gått, used in “jag har gått”.
What is the present tense of gå?
går, the same for every person: jag går, du går, vi går.
Similar words
Where the course teaches it
- The definite form of Swedish nounsComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Talking about the future with skaComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish vocabulary for home, world, workComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Vart versus var: two words for whereComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Swedish prepositions of positionComplete Swedish – Season 1
- Giving commands in SwedishComplete Swedish – Season 1
Origin
From Old Swedish gā, from Old Norse gá, from Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁-.
Nearby common words
gå is number 73 in our frequency list. These words come just before and after it.
- 69hade had
- 70henne her, her; object form of hon (=she)
- 71alla everyone, all, everybody, everyone
- 72upp up (similar senses to English, though compare uppe), open (to an open position or state)
- 74allt all 1, everything, all
- 75ingen no one, none
- 76tack thanks, thank you, please (to add politeness)
- 77få get, receive
Learn gå in real Swedish, free
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Sources: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), edited by Lingolib. Recording: Wikimedia Commons. Browse the dictionary