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Have I gone, or went?

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By on Lifestyle, Zionsville

Question: “Hello Jordan, I am new to the U.S. and Indiana and I have noticed the word ‘went’ is largely used incorrectly. I am guessing that more than 80 percent of the time the correct word should be ‘gone’. For example, ‘we may have gone to the park had it not been cold,’ is incorrectly phrased, ‘we may have went to the park had it not been cold.’ If you have an article already in this topic I would love to see it, otherwise I hope you may write one in the future.”  (Caroline Rosewell)

Answer: A great question, Caroline, and one that allows us to dig deep into English grammar.

“Gone” and “went” are both past tense forms of the verb “go.” Today I will go to the supermarket. Yesterday I went to the supermarket. I have gone to that supermarket before.

While both “went” and “gone” are used in the past tense, you’ll notice that “gone” is paired with an auxiliary verb – “have” – while “went” is alone. There are two reasons for this.

First, we don’t use helping verbs in the simple past tense: I ran; I jumped; I went. Second, the verb “go” is irregular (or imperfect) in the simple past tense: go – going – went – had gone. Compare that to the word “jump:” jump – jumping – jumped – had jumped. “Went” is the odd man out.

“Gone” is the past participle of “go,” and is used to form the past perfect (pluperfect) verb tense. This is because, as you may have surmised, imperfect, or irregular, verb forms aren’t used to form perfect tenses.

The past perfect verb tense is used for an action that occurred before another action, or that occurred “more” in the past than something else. It is formed by combining the word “had” with a past participle For example: Yesterday, I had gone (past perfect) to get gas before I went (simple past) to the supermarket.

All the talk of past perfect and pluperfect tenses can be overwhelming, so remember this: the simple past takes simply “went.” But if you’re talking about something that happened before another action (past perfect), you need “had” and the past participle “gone.”

There is another set of related tenses to learn – the present/past perfect progressive tenses – but we’ll save those for another day. Do enjoy your holidays … and don’t start any grammar wars around the dinner table on my account!


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Have I gone, or went?

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By on Fishers, Lifestyle

Question: “Hello Jordan, I am new to the U.S. and Indiana and I have noticed the word ‘went’ is largely used incorrectly. I am guessing that more than 80 percent of the time the correct word should be ‘gone’. For example, ‘we may have gone to the park had it not been cold,’ is incorrectly phrased, ‘we may have went to the park had it not been cold.’ If you have an article already in this topic I would love to see it, otherwise I hope you may write one in the future.”  (Caroline Rosewell)

Answer: A great question, Caroline, and one that allows us to dig deep into English grammar.

“Gone” and “went” are both past tense forms of the verb “go.” Today I will go to the supermarket. Yesterday I went to the supermarket. I have gone to that supermarket before.

While both “went” and “gone” are used in the past tense, you’ll notice that “gone” is paired with an auxiliary verb – “have” – while “went” is alone. There are two reasons for this.

First, we don’t use helping verbs in the simple past tense: I ran; I jumped; I went. Second, the verb “go” is irregular (or imperfect) in the simple past tense: go – going – went – had gone. Compare that to the word “jump:” jump – jumping – jumped – had jumped. “Went” is the odd man out.

“Gone” is the past participle of “go,” and is used to form the past perfect (pluperfect) verb tense. This is because, as you may have surmised, imperfect, or irregular, verb forms aren’t used to form perfect tenses.

The past perfect verb tense is used for an action that occurred before another action, or that occurred “more” in the past than something else. It is formed by combining the word “had” with a past participle For example: Yesterday, I had gone (past perfect) to get gas before I went (simple past) to the supermarket.

All the talk of past perfect and pluperfect tenses can be overwhelming, so remember this: the simple past takes simply “went.” But if you’re talking about something that happened before another action (past perfect), you need “had” and the past participle “gone.”

There is another set of related tenses to learn – the present/past perfect progressive tenses – but we’ll save those for another day. Do enjoy your holidays … and don’t start any grammar wars around the dinner table on my account!


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Have I gone, or went?

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By on Lifestyle, Westfield

Question: “Hello Jordan, I am new to the U.S. and Indiana and I have noticed the word ‘went’ is largely used incorrectly. I am guessing that more than 80 percent of the time the correct word should be ‘gone’. For example, ‘we may have gone to the park had it not been cold,’ is incorrectly phrased, ‘we may have went to the park had it not been cold.’ If you have an article already in this topic I would love to see it, otherwise I hope you may write one in the future.”  (Caroline Rosewell)

Answer: A great question, Caroline, and one that allows us to dig deep into English grammar.

“Gone” and “went” are both past tense forms of the verb “go.” Today I will go to the supermarket. Yesterday I went to the supermarket. I have gone to that supermarket before.

While both “went” and “gone” are used in the past tense, you’ll notice that “gone” is paired with an auxiliary verb – “have” – while “went” is alone. There are two reasons for this.

First, we don’t use helping verbs in the simple past tense: I ran; I jumped; I went. Second, the verb “go” is irregular (or imperfect) in the simple past tense: go – going – went – had gone. Compare that to the word “jump:” jump – jumping – jumped – had jumped. “Went” is the odd man out.

“Gone” is the past participle of “go,” and is used to form the past perfect (pluperfect) verb tense. This is because, as you may have surmised, imperfect, or irregular, verb forms aren’t used to form perfect tenses.

The past perfect verb tense is used for an action that occurred before another action, or that occurred “more” in the past than something else. It is formed by combining the word “had” with a past participle For example: Yesterday, I had gone (past perfect) to get gas before I went (simple past) to the supermarket.

All the talk of past perfect and pluperfect tenses can be overwhelming, so remember this: the simple past takes simply “went.” But if you’re talking about something that happened before another action (past perfect), you need “had” and the past participle “gone.”

There is another set of related tenses to learn – the present/past perfect progressive tenses – but we’ll save those for another day. Do enjoy your holidays … and don’t start any grammar wars around the dinner table on my account!


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Column: Have I gone, or went?

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By on Carmel, Grammar Guy

Question: “Hello Jordan, I am new to the U.S. and Indiana and I have noticed the word ‘went’ is largely used incorrectly. I am guessing that more than 80 percent of the time the correct word should be ‘gone’. For example, ‘we may have gone to the park had it not been cold,’ is incorrectly phrased, ‘we may have went to the park had it not been cold.’ If you have an article already in this topic I would love to see it, otherwise I hope you may write one in the future.”  (Caroline Rosewell)

Answer: A great question, Caroline, and one that allows us to dig deep into English grammar.

“Gone” and “went” are both past tense forms of the verb “go.” Today I will go to the supermarket. Yesterday I went to the supermarket. I have gone to that supermarket before.

While both “went” and “gone” are used in the past tense, you’ll notice that “gone” is paired with an auxiliary verb – “have” – while “went” is alone. There are two reasons for this.

First, we don’t use helping verbs in the simple past tense: I ran; I jumped; I went. Second, the verb “go” is irregular (or imperfect) in the simple past tense: go – going – went – had gone. Compare that to the word “jump:” jump – jumping – jumped – had jumped. “Went” is the odd man out.

“Gone” is the past participle of “go,” and is used to form the past perfect (pluperfect) verb tense. This is because, as you may have surmised, imperfect, or irregular, verb forms aren’t used to form perfect tenses.

The past perfect verb tense is used for an action that occurred before another action, or that occurred “more” in the past than something else. It is formed by combining the word “had” with a past participle For example: Yesterday, I had gone (past perfect) to get gas before I went (simple past) to the supermarket.

All the talk of past perfect and pluperfect tenses can be overwhelming, so remember this: the simple past takes simply “went.” But if you’re talking about something that happened before another action (past perfect), you need “had” and the past participle “gone.”

There is another set of related tenses to learn – the present/past perfect progressive tenses – but we’ll save those for another day. Do enjoy your holidays … and don’t start any grammar wars around the dinner table on my account!


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Have I gone, or went?

0
By on Lifestyle, Noblesville

Question: “Hello Jordan, I am new to the U.S. and Indiana and I have noticed the word ‘went’ is largely used incorrectly. I am guessing that more than 80 percent of the time the correct word should be ‘gone’. For example, ‘we may have gone to the park had it not been cold,’ is incorrectly phrased, ‘we may have went to the park had it not been cold.’ If you have an article already in this topic I would love to see it, otherwise I hope you may write one in the future.”  (Caroline Rosewell)

Answer: A great question, Caroline, and one that allows us to dig deep into English grammar.

“Gone” and “went” are both past tense forms of the verb “go.” Today I will go to the supermarket. Yesterday I went to the supermarket. I have gone to that supermarket before.

While both “went” and “gone” are used in the past tense, you’ll notice that “gone” is paired with an auxiliary verb – “have” – while “went” is alone. There are two reasons for this.

First, we don’t use helping verbs in the simple past tense: I ran; I jumped; I went. Second, the verb “go” is irregular (or imperfect) in the simple past tense: go – going – went – had gone. Compare that to the word “jump:” jump – jumping – jumped – had jumped. “Went” is the odd man out.

“Gone” is the past participle of “go,” and is used to form the past perfect (pluperfect) verb tense. This is because, as you may have surmised, imperfect, or irregular, verb forms aren’t used to form perfect tenses.

The past perfect verb tense is used for an action that occurred before another action, or that occurred “more” in the past than something else. It is formed by combining the word “had” with a past participle For example: Yesterday, I had gone (past perfect) to get gas before I went (simple past) to the supermarket.

All the talk of past perfect and pluperfect tenses can be overwhelming, so remember this: the simple past takes simply “went.” But if you’re talking about something that happened before another action (past perfect), you need “had” and the past participle “gone.”

There is another set of related tenses to learn – the present/past perfect progressive tenses – but we’ll save those for another day. Do enjoy your holidays … and don’t start any grammar wars around the dinner table on my account!


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