- gaon(Dutch Low Saxon)
- gåån(Vosbergenschriefwieze)
FromMiddle Low Germangân, fromOld Saxongān, fromProto-Germanic*gāną, fromProto-Indo-European*ǵʰeh₁-(“to leave”).
Cognate withDutchgaan,Germangehen,West Frisiangean,Saterland Frisiangunge,Englishgo,Danishgå.
gahn (past singulargüng,past participlegahnorgangen,auxiliary verbwesen)(German Low German)
- (intransitive) togo
- (intransitive) towalk
- (transitive) towalk (some distance); to go (usually) by foot
- (intransitive) toleave
- Ikgah nu. ―I'm leaving now.
- (intransitive) Tolead (in a direction).
- Dehierste Weg geiht richt na Bassum. ―This road goes all the way toBassum.
- (intransitive) Toproceed (well or poorly).
- Dat is gootgahn. ―That went well.
- (impersonal, intransitive) to be going; to bealright;indicates how the oblique object fares
- Woansgeiht dat di? ―How are you doing?
- Migeiht dat goot. ―I’m doing well. (Literally, “It goes well for me.”)
- Datgeiht. ―It’s alright.
- (auxiliary) Used to form thefuture tense of a verb, together with aninfinitive.
- Dat geiht doch nich warken. ―It will not work anyway.
- Note:schölen andwüllen are used more often for the future tense, instead ofgahn.
- (auxiliary) Tostart 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.
- (colloquial, intransitive) to be possible
- Dat mag villichtgahn. ―That might be possible.
- (colloquial, intransitive) to work, to function (the verbwarken is also used in that context)
- De Koffeeautomaatgeiht nich. ―The coffee dispenser doesn't work.
- (colloquial, intransitive) to be in progress; tolast
- De Sittengeiht bet Klock een. ―The session is scheduled until one o'clock.
- (impersonal, intransitive, with “op” followed by a time) toapproach; to be going (on some one)
- Datgeiht op Klock 8. ―It’s going on 8 o’clock.
Unlike Englishto go, Low Germangahn does not mean "to travel somewhere" in general. A distinction must be made betweengahn (walk),fohren (go by bike, car, train, or ship), andflegen (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.
Note: This conjugation is one of many.
Neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.
