Indicative
Present
| 1st sing. | gā |
| 2nd sing. | gǣst |
| 3rd sing. | gǣþ |
| 1st plur. | gāþ |
| 2nd plur. | gāþ |
| 3rd plur. | gāþ |
Past
| 1st sing. | ēode |
| 2nd sing. | ēodest |
| 3rd sing. | ēode |
| 1st plur. | ēodon |
| 2nd plur. | ēodon |
| 3rd plur. | ēodon |
Subjunctive
Present
| 1st sing. | gā |
| 2nd sing. | gā |
| 3rd sing. | gā |
| 1st plur. | gān |
| 2nd plur. | gān |
| 3rd plur. | gān |
Past
| 1st sing. | ēode |
| 2nd sing. | ēode |
| 3rd sing. | ēode |
| 1st plur. | ēoden |
| 2nd plur. | ēoden |
| 3rd plur. | ēoden |
Verbs conjugated like 'gan'
gan,
Verbs similar to 'gan'
agan,
acan,
ælan,
æwan,
alan,
began,
bigan,
buan,
bugan,
bygan,
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *gān, from Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”). The verb was defective in Germanic and may have existed only in the present tense. See: Proto-Germanic '
*gāną'.
Verbs referencing "gan"
Scots
gang, Scots
ging, Scots
gyang.
Sample Sentences
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c. 990, Wessex Gospels, "Gospel of Saint John", chapter 21, verse 3 (Then said Simon Peter to them, "I want to go fishing." Then they said to him, "and we want to go with you." And they went out and went in a ship, and caught nothing in the night.)
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late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
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...hē wolde gān ūt of ðām porte... (...he desired to go out of the town...)
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late 10th century, Ælfric, "Chair of Saint Peter"
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...swā hwǣr swā hē ēode and hī ealle āstōdon ansunde ætforan him þe on ðām fænne ǣr lagon. (...wheresoever he went, and they all rose up sound before him, who aforetime lay in the mire.)
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late 10th century, Ælfric, "Chair of Saint Peter"
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...and hē lēop sona cunniġende his fēðes hwæðer hē cūðe gān. (and he leapt up immediately, trying his power of motion, whether he could walk.)
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late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History
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Sē wer meahte unēaðe þurh hine selfne ārīsan oþþe gān. (The man could barely get up or walk by himself.)
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c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 6:66 (After that, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.)
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c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 24:38-39 (In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they didn't know until the flood came and took them all.)
Cognates
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