phrasal verb · informal

go + V-ing

Band 6-7speakingtask1

used with activities (often leisure) to say someone goes somewhere to do an activity or participates in an activity

Examples

“On weekends we usually go hiking in the hills.”

“Do you want to go shopping this afternoon?”

“They go swimming every summer at the local pool.”

Band 8 sentence

“Instead of visiting the usual tourist spots, we prefer to go hiking in the countryside to experience local life.”

Collocations

  • go shopping/go swimming/go hiking/go camping

Word family

go + V-ing verb phrasego to + place phrasal use

Common mistakes

I go to swim every Sunday.→I go swimming every Sunday.

We go shopping to the mall yesterday.→We went shopping at the mall yesterday.

Say it for a higher band

5go to + V (incorrect transfer)→6do + activity→7+go + V-ing

Synonyms

do + sport/activity (e.g., do yoga)

Easily confused

go to + place

“We decided to go to the cinema on Friday.”

Related words

look forward to + V-ingtry + V-ing / try to + Vfor + somebody + to + Vavoid + V-ingbe likely to + Vbegin / start + V-ing / to + Vprevent + somebody + from + V-ingturn out + to + V

Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.

In Gerunds & infinitives

Learn it with its set