gå (to go / walk) | Norwegian Grammar

gå is a verb English speakers almost always get slightly wrong at first, because it looks like "go" but is narrower: at its core, gå means to walk / go on foot. Jeg går til skolen means "I walk to school," not just "I go to school." For going somewhere by car, bus, or plane you need dra or reise, not gå. On top of this meaning split, gå has a hugely useful figurative life — det går bra ("it's going fine") — and a stack of particle idioms. It is a strong verb: preterite gikk, supine gått.

Conjugation

Class: strong. Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å gå	to go / walk
Presens	går	walk(s), go(es); am/is/are walking
Preteritum	gikk	walked, went
Perfektum	har gått	have/has walked, gone
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde gått	had walked, gone
Futurum	skal/vil gå	will walk / go
Imperativ	gå!	go! / walk!
Presens partisipp	gående	walking (en gående = a pedestrian)

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Chant the principal parts: gå – går – gikk – gått. The preterite gikk is wildly irregular (double k, vowel change to i), and the supine is gått with the å kept and a double t. None of these follow a rule — just memorise the chant.

gå means walk — the meaning split English lacks

This is the most important point on the page. English go is a catch-all: you "go" to the shop on foot, "go" to France by plane, "go" to bed. Norwegian splits this. gå specifically means moving on foot — walking. So:

Jeg går til jobben = "I walk to work" (on foot, literally).
Jeg går til Spania would literally claim you are walking to Spain — which is not what you mean.

For "going" by any vehicle, or for a departure where transport is involved or unspecified, use dra ("go / leave / set off") or reise ("travel"). This split simply does not exist in English, which is why learners overuse gå.

Jeg går til skolen hver dag.

I walk to school every day. (on foot — that's what gå says)

Vi går en tur i parken.

We're going for a walk in the park. (gå en tur = take a walk)

Hun gikk hjem etter festen.

She walked home after the party.

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If your feet do the work, use gå. For "I'm going to Spain / to Bergen / abroad," where you are not walking, use dra or reise — never jeg går til Spania, which means you are walking there. See choosing/ga-dra-reise.

The strong preterite: gikk

The past tense of gå is gikk — highly irregular, with a vowel change and a double k. It is the same for every person: jeg gikk, du gikk, vi gikk. There is no -te or -et version; "gådde" and "gåde" are both wrong.

Vi gikk langs stranda i går.

We walked along the beach yesterday.

Alt gikk bra på prøven.

Everything went well on the test.

The supine: har gått — with ha, not være

After the auxiliary ha, use the supine gått (the å stays, double t): har gått, hadde gått. As with all common Norwegian verbs, including motion verbs, the perfect uses ha, never være: it is har gått, not "er gått." If you speak German or Dutch, ignore the ist gegangen / is gegaan pattern — Norwegian behaves like English have gone.

Har du gått langt i dag?

Have you walked far today?

Klokka har gått i stå.

The clock has stopped. (literally: has gone to a standstill)

The figurative gå: det går bra

Beyond literal walking, gå is the standard verb for how things go / proceed / are working out — exactly like English "How's it going?" The most useful phrase in the whole language might be det går bra ("it's going fine / I'm doing well"), the natural answer to Hvordan går det? ("How are you / how's it going?").

In this figurative sense, gå also covers machines and processes running: Motoren går ("The engine is running"), Toget går klokka ti ("The train leaves / runs at ten" — for scheduled departures). And it expresses possibility in det går an ("it's possible / it can be done").

Hvordan går det med deg? — Det går bra, takk!

How are you doing? — I'm fine, thanks! (det går bra)

Toget går klokka ti.

The train leaves at ten. (scheduled departure)

Det går an å bytte billett hvis du vil.

It's possible to change the ticket if you want. (det går an = it can be done)

Particles: gå på, gå av, gå ut, gå ned, gå opp

gå combines with directional particles into many everyday expressions. The literal "walk on/off/out" sense is often present, but several have idiomatic readings worth learning:

gå på — "go on / attend (a place); get on (a bus); be on (a light/TV)": gå på skolen (attend school), gå på bussen (get on the bus). Also "go for it / lay into": Bare gå på!
gå av — "get off (a bus); go off (a bomb, an alarm); resign (from office)": gå av bussen, bomben gikk av, ministeren gikk av.
gå ut — "go out (socially); run out / expire": gå ut på byen (go out on the town), melken har gått ut (the milk has expired).
gå ned / gå opp — "go down / up": of prices, weight (gå ned i vekt = lose weight), the sun (sola går ned).

Hvilken skole går du på?

Which school do you go to / attend? (gå på skolen)

Skal vi gå ut og spise i kveld?

Shall we go out for dinner tonight? (gå ut = go out socially)

Prisene har gått opp igjen.

Prices have gone up again.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jeg går til Spania i sommer.

Incorrect — gå means 'walk'; for travelling use dra or reise

✅ Jeg reiser til Spania i sommer.

I'm going to Spain this summer.

❌ Hun er gått hjem.

Incorrect — Norwegian uses ha in the perfect, even for motion: har gått

✅ Hun har gått hjem.

She has gone home.

❌ Vi gådde en tur.

Incorrect — gå is strong; the preterite is gikk

✅ Vi gikk en tur.

We went for a walk.

❌ Har du gådd langt?

Incorrect — the supine is gått (keep the å, double t)

✅ Har du gått langt?

Have you walked far?

Key Takeaways

gå / går / gikk / har gått / gå! — strong verb; preterite gikk, supine gått (keep the å, double t).
gå means walk / go on foot. For going by vehicle or any real departure, use dra or reise — jeg går til Spania literally means walking there.
Perfect is har gått — ha, never være (like English have gone).
Figurative gå = how things go: det går bra ("it's fine"), det går an ("it can be done"), toget går (the train runs/leaves).
Particle idioms: gå på (attend / get on), gå av (get off / go off / resign), gå ut (go out / expire), gå ned/opp (down/up).

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