went

Went is the past tense of the verb go in modern English. It denotes movement from one place to another in the past, as in "We went to the store yesterday." The corresponding past participle is gone, used with have/has/had to form perfect tenses, for example "They have gone to the store." Went is irregular and does not follow the standard -ed pattern typical of regular verbs.

Etymology and historical development: The form went derives from Old English and the broader Germanic heritage of the verb related to movement or turning. In Middle English, forms related to wend/wendan evolved into the modern went, reflecting early shifts in how English expressed past movement. The link between the sense of turning and moving is reflected in some historical uses, though today went is primarily a general past tense marker for go.

Grammatical notes: Went is used exclusively for the simple past of go. Its counterpart for the present perfect is gone. A frequent pitfall is confusing major verb forms such as "I have went" (incorrect) versus the correct "I have gone." Went can pair with various prepositional phrases to indicate destination or direction, such as "went to," "went back," or "went away." It also appears in many idiomatic expressions describing change of state or activity, such as "went out of style" or "went to waste."

See also: go (verb), gone (past participle), irregular verbs, English morphology.