6 ways to use the verb 'GO' in English

Hi. Let me ask you an English question, okay? Which of these is correct? Is it correct to

say "I'm going home" or "I'm going to home"? Which one is right? "I'm going home" or "I'm

going to home"? Well, I hope you said "this one" because it's right. And next question.

"I'm going to bank" or "I'm going to the bank"? Which one is right? "I'm going to bank" or

"I'm going to the bank"? Okay. In this case, "this one" is right. Okay? "I'm going to the

bank." All right? So, my name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, we're going to talk

about one of the most common verbs in English, the verb "go", and we're going to discuss

which prepositions go with the word "go". Which prepositions are used with the verb

"go" most frequently? Because sometimes we use no preposition, sometimes we use the preposition

"to", sometimes we say "to a", sometimes we say "to the", and sometimes we use other prepositions

like "go on something", "go for something". So I'm going to try to show you some patterns

here that will make your life a little bit easier when you're using this very, very common

verb. Okay? All right. So, "going home". All right? So first, there are a number of words

where we don't use any preposition. So we just say "I'm going home" or "I'm going to

town", "I'm going home" or "I'm going downtown". All right? For that, we don't need to say

"the" or anything else, and no preposition at all. We also use "go" with a number of

gerunds that describe various types of activities, right? Or sports, like "He's going shopping",

"She's going swimming", "We're going camping", "They're going dancing", "I'm going fishing",

or "He's going sailing". All right? These are examples of using the verb "go" plus a

gerund for an activity, a sporting activity. Okay? So that's one group.

Second set is when you use "go to". So we use "go to" when we're talking about class.

"I'm going to class", "I'm going to work", "He's going to school today", "They're going

to college", "They're going to university", "I'm tired, I'm going to bed", "He's going

to prison", or "He's going to jail". All right? You see I didn't say "I", I said "he" or "she",

but hopefully no one, but sometimes people go to prison or jail. Okay? That's with "to".

Another situation where we use "go to" is with cities. For example, "He's going to Washington

tomorrow", "She's going to Amsterdam". All right? Also with countries, we say "go to".

We don't need to say "the" because these are already proper nouns. We don't need to say

"the". So "He's going to Japan for the summer", "I'm going to Italy next year". All right?

That's an example. Also, you see here the names of two continents. So for example, "I'm

going to Europe for my holiday" or "He's going to Asia for a trip". Okay? So you could also

use them with continents. So cities, countries, continents, "go to", as well as these places

that we mentioned here. How do we remember all this? Well, by watching this video. Second,

by practicing a lot, by looking at some sort of organizing principle here, like here we

see cities, and here we see countries, and here we see continents, and here we see a

lot of places that have to do with school, college, work. Okay? Look for some sort of

principle that helps you to remember these places.

Next category is when we say "go to a". All right? For example, "I'm going to a party

tonight", "I'm going to a conference next week", "I'm going to a concert". Okay? So

here, we're saying "a party" because we don't know which party. It's just "a party", and

it's a conference, and it's a concert. We're not mentioning a specific one. If the person

you're talking to knows the party, or the conference, or the concert, then you can say

"I'm going to the concert tonight", because then both of you know which concert you're

talking about. But if you're just telling somebody, so somebody asks you, "What are

you doing tonight? Where are you going?" "Well, I'm going to a concert." And then they might

say, "Well, which concert?" Okay? Let's continue.

Next one, "to go to the". "Going to the doctor". "I'm going to the doctor because I'm not feeling

well." Or, "I need to go to the dentist. I have a toothache." Or, "I need to go to the

specialist." Okay? Or, "He needs to go to the specialist because he broke his leg."

All right? In this case, we say "the" because we usually know the doctor we're talking about

or the dentist or the specialist. All right? And it means the one that we usually see.

All right? We also use "the", "going to the", when we talk about the bank, the supermarket,

the mall, the airport. All right? Why? Because, again, usually we know which bank we're talking

about. It's the one that we always go to. And we know which supermarket, right? Where

we usually shop. We know which mall, and we know that we're usually talking about the

airport in our city. So that's why when we say, "I'm going to the airport," most people

know which airport you mean and which airport you're referring to. So that's why we use

"the". It can be specific because people understand the specific one you're talking about.

Now, so those were "go", "go to", "go to a", and "go to the". Next, I'm going to just talk

about a couple of other exceptions. There are many exceptions with "go", but let's talk

about some common ones. There's "to go on". So you could say, for example, "She's going

on a vacation next week." "She's going on a cruise" or "She's going on a trip" or "on

a tour", for example. So you could see this category is sort of to do with holidays, cruises,

trips, tours, right? "I'm going on a holiday" also. Okay, and the last one that I've written

for you today is "to go for". Now we're going to use the noun. You see here we were using

the verb and the gerund form. So you could say, "I'm going... I want to go jogging, but

I need to go for a jog" or "a swim", "a walk", "a drive". "To go... Would you like to go for

a walk?" We could ask somebody, right? "Would you like to go for a swim?" "I need to go

for a drive." Okay? So these are some of the most common uses of "go" and prepositions,

all right? I know there is a lot to remember, so try to watch this video, review it, also

do the quiz that's right after it. But what I'm going to do right now is to ask you a

few questions just to see if you remember some of these things that I've already taught

you. So if I have the sentence, "I need to go blank post office today." "I need to go

blank post office." So what do we say? "I need to go to the post office." "I need to

go to the post office" because the post office means the post office that's near your house,

or the post office you usually go to, correct? Next one. "What time are you going blank home?"

"What time are you going blank home?" So the answer will be that we need no preposition

here. "What time are you going home?" All right? Good. "When we were on holiday, we

went blank swim every day." "We went blank swim every day." So here, because you're using

a noun, it will be, "We went for a swim." "We went for a drive," like that. "I went

blank Paul McCartney concert this summer," which is actually true. I was in Vegas, and

I saw Paul McCartney, and he was amazing. So what would we say here? "I went blank Paul

McCartney concert this summer." So what could you say here, right? "I went to a Paul McCartney

concert," or any concert. "I went to a concert." Next one, "Your leg looks swollen. I think

you should go blank doctor." "I think you should go blank doctor." So it will be, "Go

to the doctor." The doctor that is your doctor. That's why we say, "The doctor." And last

one, "Maria is going blank Paris to learn French next month." "Maria is going blank

Paris." So what would we say? Do we say, "Going Paris." "Maria is going to Paris." "Maria

is going to a Paris." "To the Paris." We just say, "Maria is going to Paris," because Paris

is a city, and with cities, we don't need to say "a" or "the." Okay? So I hope this

lesson helps you with this very common verb. If you'd like to do a quiz on this, visit

our website at www.engvid.com. I'm sure it will help you to master the verb "go" and

also its prepositions. Thanks very much for watching. Bye for now.