The Relationship Between 'Go' and 'Went'

[mab_browne]

Fandom Grammar was asked ‘what is the relationship and history between to go and went?’

Go is an irregular verb, and our answers wend their way back to Middle English and beyond. Fannish examples will come from Sapphire and Steel, who are accustomed to dealing with irregularities.

Comments

[pathology_doc]

We went back in time to save the world.

Our agents have gone into the past because humans can’t learn to leave well enough alone.

Noting here that 'we went' is something that 'we' did and came back from, and have now finished doing. (e.g. "What did you do six times before breakfast?"). The agents' going back into the past is something they've had to do repeatedly, with no clear limit on how many have gone back and how many times they've done so.

[mab_browne]

Definitely a true comment in the context of the show.

[pronker]

/happy linguist's squee/ Thanks for this!

[mab_browne]

You're welcome. :-)

[lost_spook]

Sapphire dances gracefully and will probably flirt with you if you compliment her skill.

:lol: I'm sure!!

And, thanks, this is lovely, well-written and informative post. I'd only just discovered this comm and am a) impressed at the entries and the way they're done and b) tickled pink that the first two posts since I joined used Diana Wynne Jones and then S&S as examples. *confidently expects Classic Who, Blake's 7 or Press Gang to be next*

:-)

[mab_browne]

I can't guarantee that the comm will keep providing your fannish representation, although I'll certainly keep those Blake's 7 references in mind for my next go-round. Thanks.

[lost_spook]

:-)

Well, if someone wanted to know about snark, sarcasm and irony... :lol: