gahn

See also: Gahn

Low German

Alternative forms

• gaon (Dutch Low Saxon)
• gåån (Vosbergenschriefwieze)

Etymology

From Middle Low German gân, from Old Saxon gān, from Proto-Germanic *gāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave”).

Cognate with Dutch gaan, German gehen, West Frisian gean, Saterland Frisian gunge, English go, Danish gå.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaːn/, /ɡɒːn/

Verb

gahn (past singular güng, past participle gahn or gangen, auxiliary verb wesen) (German Low German)

1. (intransitive) to go
2. (intransitive) to walk
3. (transitive) to walk (some distance); to go (usually) by foot
4. (intransitive) to leave

   Ik gah nu. ― I'm leaving now.

5. (intransitive) To lead (in a direction).

   Dehierste Weg geiht richt na Bassum. ― This road goes all the way to Bassum.

6. (intransitive) To proceed (well or poorly).

   Dat is goot gahn. ― That went well.

7. (impersonal, intransitive) to be going; to be alright; indicates how the oblique object fares

   Woans geiht dat di? ― How are you doing?

   Mi geiht dat goot. ― I’m doing well. (Literally, “It goes well for me.”)

   Dat geiht. ― It’s alright.

8. (auxiliary) Used to form the future tense of a verb, together with an infinitive.

   Dat geiht doch nich warken. ― It will not work anyway.

   Note: schölen and wüllen are used more often for the future tense, instead of gahn.

9. (auxiliary) To start to, begin to, to be going to

   De Sünn geiht wedder schienen. ― The sun is starting to shine again.

   Ik gah slapen. ― I'm going to sleep.

   Dat geiht so regen. ― It's going to start raining soon.

10. (colloquial, intransitive) to be possible

    Dat mag villicht gahn. ― That might be possible.

11. (colloquial, intransitive) to work, to function (the verb warken is also used in that context)

    De Koffeeautomaat geiht nich. ― The coffee dispenser doesn't work.

12. (colloquial, intransitive) to be in progress; to last

    De Sitten geiht bet Klock een. ― The session is scheduled until one o'clock.

13. (impersonal, intransitive, with “op” followed by a time) to approach; to be going (on some one)

    Dat geiht op Klock 8. ― It’s going on 8 o’clock.

Usage notes

Unlike English to go, Low German gahn does not mean "to travel somewhere" in general. A distinction must be made between gahn (walk), fohren (go by bike, car, train, or ship), and flegen (go by plane, i.e. fly). If used with a place one cannot or would not commonly walk to, gahn often implies that one intends to stay there for a long time, e.g.: Ik gah na New York. – I'm going to New York to live.

Conjugation

Conjugation of gahn (irregular verb)

infinitive	gahn
	present	preterite
1st person singular	gah	güng
2nd person singular	geihs(t)	güngs(t)
3rd person singular	geih(t)	güng
plural	gaht, gahen	güngen
	imperative
singular	gah
plural	gaht
	present	past
participle	gahn	(e)gahn, gangen, gegahn, gangen

Note: This conjugation is one of many.
Neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.