gå

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ga" and Appendix:Variations of "gaa"

Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish gaa (past tense geck, plural gingæ). The paradigm combines two different Proto-Germanic verbs: *gāną and *ganganą. Classical Old Norse has only the latter, but West Germanic also combines them in one paradigm, cf. German gehen (past tense ging, past participle gegangen).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈɡ̊ɔˀ]
Audio: (file)

Verb

gå (imperative gå, infinitive at gå, present tense går, past tense gik, perfect tense er gået)

to go
Jeg vil gerne have, at du går væk.
I would like you to go away.
to walk

Conjugation

Conjugation of gå

	active	passive
present	går	gås
past	gik	gikkes
infinitive	gå	gås
imperative	gå	—

	participle
present	gående
past	gået (auxiliary verb være)
gerund	gåen

Derived terms

References

“gå” in Den Danske Ordbog

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse ganga. The infinitive and present tense conjugation of the verb do not correspond with the Old Norse conjugation of ganga (compare with the Old Norse conjugation) and may be influenced by East Norse variants or Low German gan.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡoː/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -oː

Verb

gå (present tense går, past tense gikk, past participle gått, passive infinitive gås, present participle gående, imperative gå)

To walk, go.
OK, da kan dere gå hjem.
Ok, you're free to go home.

Går du til skolen eller tar du bussen?
Do you walk to school or do you take the bus?

Gå til fots.
Go on foot.
To work (function), run, to be possible.
Det gikk visst ikke så bra.
It didn't go too well.

Det går ikke å fikse motoren.
I can't fix the engine.

Motoren går fint.
The engine runs smoothly.
To be alright, in order
Går det bra med deg?
Are you alright?

Går alt bra her?
Is everything alright here?
To go with something.
Hvilket slips går best med denne skjorten, synes du?
Which tie goes best with this shirt, do you think?
Passing of time
Etter som årene går.
As the years go by.
Of electric power, to go out; of a light bulb or fuse, to blow.
Strømmen er gått i hele nabolaget.
The power is out in the entire neighbourhood.

Sikringen går hver gang jeg skrur på komfyren.
The fuse blows every time I turn on the stove.

Synonyms

to work (function), run, to be possible.

Derived terms

References

“gå” in The Ordnett Dictionary
“gå” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
J.Fritnzer's dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡoː/
(Sognamål) IPA^(key): /ɡaʊ/

Alternative forms

ganga, gange
ga (Nordmøre, Trøndelag dialect)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse ganga. Akin to English go. The infinitive and present tense conjugation of the verb do not correspond with the Old Norse conjugation of ganga (compare with the Old Norse conjugation) and may be influenced by East Norse variants or Low German gan.

Verb

gå (present tense går, past tense gjekk, past participle gått, passive infinitive gåast, present participle gåande, imperative gå)

walk, go.
OK, då kan de gå heim.
Ok, you're free to go home.

Går du til skulen eller tek du bussen?
Do you walk to school or do you take the bus?

Gå til fots.
Go by foot.
work (function), run, to be possible.
Det gjekk visst ikkje så bra.
It didn't go too well.

Det går ikkje å fikse motoren.
I can't fix the engine.

Motoren går fint.
The engine runs smoothly.
be alright, in order
Går det bra med deg?
Are you alright?

Gjekk alt bra her?
Was everything alright here?
fit, go (with)
Kva slags slips går best med denne skjorta, synst du?
Which tie goes best with this shirt, do you think?
Passing of time
Etter som åra går.
As the years go by.

Synonyms

to work (function), run, to be possible.

funka
verka

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse gá, akin to gaum (“attention”).

Verb

gå (present tense går, past tense gådde, past participle gått/gådd, passive infinitive gåast, present participle gåande, imperative gå)

To feel, sense, be aware of
Eg gådde det ikkje straks.
I didn't notice it right away.

Gå til/åt (noko).
Notice something, be surprised.

References

“gå” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
J.Fritnzer's dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish gā, from Old Norse ganga, from Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁-.

Pronunciation

(Sweden) IPA^(key): /ɡoː/, [ɡoː], [ɡoə̯]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -oː

Verb

gå (present går, preterite gick, supine gått, imperative gå)

to walk
Ska vi ta bilen eller gå? ― Should we take the car or walk?

Vi är ute och går i skogen ― We are out walking in the forest

Gå rakt fram ― Walk straight ahead

Gå hem! ― Go (walk) home!

—Hur tog du dig hit? —Jag gick. ― —How did you get here? —I walked.
- 1994, Nordman, “Vandraren [The wanderer]”, in Nordman‎^[1]:
  Det gör ont, men gå ändå. Du kan alltid vända om. Det gör ont, men gå ändå. Du är här och kom hit som en vandrare.
  It hurts, but walk anyway. You can always turn around. It hurts, but walk anyway. You are here and came here [hither, to here] as a wanderer.
to go; to leave
to go; to be given or allotted
to go; to extend between two points
to go; to lead (to)
(of time) to go; to elapse
to go; to start
Klara, färdiga, gå! ― Get ready, get set, go!
to go; to resort [with till ‘to something’]
Måste ni gå till rätten med tvisten? ― Do you have to go to court with the dispute?
to go; to change from one value to another
Priserna har gått upp igen. ― The prices have gone up again.
to go; to be spent [with till ‘on something’]
Pengarna gick alla till öl. ― All the money went on beer.
to go; to be sold
to go; to fit or be compatible
De där färgerna går inte ihop. ― Those colors don't go together.
to go; to be expressed or composed in a certain way
Jag vet inte riktigt hur sången går sedan. ― I don't really know how the song goes after this.
to go; to attend
gå i skolan ― go to school

gå på dans ― go to a dance
to go; to be in a state continuously
Ingen ska behöva gå hungrig. ― Nobody should have to go hungry.
(of rumors, stories, communicable diseases, etc.) to go; to spread; to circulate
(of a mechanical or electric system) to go; to stop (functioning)
(of flow of water or electricity) to stop (flowing)
(of a solution to a problem) to go; to proceed; to work out; to behave as anticipated
Det går inte (att) göra såhär. ― You can't do it like this. (literally, “It's doesn't go to do thus.”)

Det där går inte! ― That won't work!
(of a mechanism or machine) to go; to work, to run
Min klocka går inte. ― My clock doesn't work.
(of a card in a card game) to go; to be played
Där gick ruterässet, så nu är min kung högst i den färgen.
There's the ace of diamonds gone, so now my king is the highest in that suit.
(colloquial) to be allowed (as being deemed practically possible)
Går det att jag tar med mig några kompisar hem efter skolan idag?
Can I bring a couple of friends over after school today?
to be doing [with med]
Hur går det med dina läxor? Är du klar med dem än?
How's your homework coming along? Are you finished with it yet?
(impersonal, colloquial) for there to be an orgasm; for someone to come, cum [with för ‘the orgasmer’]
Det gick för henne. ― She came (had an orgasm).

Usage notes

The imperative gack (instead of gå) is archaic or (strongly) dialectal, and primarily found in old texts with poetic language.

Conjugation

Conjugation of gå (strong)
	active		passive
infinitive	gå		gås
supine	gått		gåtts
imperative	gå, gack		—
imper. plural¹	gån		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	går	gick	gås	gicks
ind. plural¹	gå	gingo	gås	gingos
subjunctive²	gå, gånge	ginge	gås, gånges	ginges

present participle		gående
past participle		gången

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Synonyms

(extend): löpa
(lead to): leda (till)
(walk): gånga, traska, spatsera

Derived terms

Derived terms (phrases)

References