Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009

“They had went to my office earlier in the day”
Verbosity about verbs: The big blunders

THE IRREGULAR VERB TO GO

The irregular verb to go gives people problems most often in the present and past tenses. That is, they mistakenly use went with the helping verbs have, has, and had.

Incorrect:

Fritz had went to the Paris exhibit last year.

They had went to that conference earlier in the year.

I have went to the major power brokers to try to negotiate the deal.

Correct:

Fritz had gone to the Paris exhibit last year.

They had gone to that conference earlier in the year.

I have gone to the major power brokers to try to negotiate the deal.

Here’s how the verb looks in the past tense:

Present Perfect Tense (to go)

(started in the past and continuing in the present):

I have gone to my manager about the problem and am waiting for a decision.

You (singular—an individual) have gone to your manager about the problem, so be patient.

Fritz has gone to the manager about the problem and is waiting for a decision.

We have gone to the manager about the problem and are waiting for a decision.

You (plural—a group) have gone to the manager about the problem, so be patient.

They have gone to the manager about the problem so they should be patient.

Past Perfect Tense (to go)

(started in the past and ended before a specific time in the past):

I had gone to Boston for the conference, but I missed the party on Friday.

You (singularly—an individual) had gone to the conference, but evidently you missed the party on Friday.

Hannah had gone to the conference, but evidently she missed the party on Friday.

We had gone to the conference, but we missed the party on Friday.

You (plural—a group) had gone to the conference, but evidently you missed the party on Friday.

They had gone to the conference, but they missed the party on Friday.

Memory tip

Remember that the classic movie is titled Gone with the Wind, not Went with the Wind.