GO: USES AND EXPRESSIONS

Come vs go


Go usually express a movement away from the position the speaker is now; come expresses a movement towards the speaker.

Imagine you are at school. The time is 9.30 a.m.
I had to go to Jimmy´s to pick up some books; then I went to the post office before I came to school.

Sometimes the speaker is in one place but imagines that they are already in another place. When Thomas meets  Marta in Spain, he invites her to Switzerland. He says:

"Would you like to come and visit me in Bern?" (He imagines he is there and so her movement is towards him.)

We can also imagine that the listener is in a different place. Talking to Marta, Thomas says:

"I´ll come to your flat at 7.30 p.m." (She will be at home, so his movement is towards her.)

Note: It is a similar difference between bring and take:
I think I´ll take my bike to the match and Peter can bring it back here tomorrow.


Different meanings of "go"


+ When you leave a place in order to do an activity, you often express it either with go + ing noun or go (out) + for a + noun. Here are some common example:

We could go shopping.                                  She wants to go (out) for a walk.
We could go riding (on horses)                      She wants to go (out) for a drink.
They went sightseeing.                                   Let´s go (out) for a drive.
They went swimming. (also 'for a swim')        Let´s go (out) for a meal.

+ Go is followed by certain adjectives to describe a change in state (usually to a worse state) with the meaning 'become' (get is also used with some adjectives).

My brother´s hair is going grey, and my father is going bald.
The company went bankrupt last year.
He´ll go mad if you wear his jacket.
My grandmother is going deaf.


+ It is often used to describe the speed something is travelling (also do):

We were going about 80 kph when the accident happened.

+ When you want to say/ask if a road or form of transport takes you somewhere:

          Does this bus go to the National Gallery?
          I don´t thing this road goes to the station.


Expressions


I´ve never tried bungee jumping but I´d love to have a go. (= try it)
How´s it going? (How are you?) And you can use the same question if you want to know if something is easy, difficult, enjoyable, etc. For example, if you are doing an exercise in class, your teacher may ask: How´s it going? (also How are you getting on?)
It´s my go (also it´s my turn). This expression is used in games such as chess or monopoly where you move from one player to another, then back.

(From the book English Vocabulary in Use by Stuart Redman - Cambridge University Press)