❓ To happen ➡️ To continue 🗣️ To keep speaking 💡 To start working

to go on

874 1.8

Continue speaking after a pause or when asked

phrasal verb
/ɡoʊ ɑn/

: seguir hablando

After a brief pause, she encouraged him to go on with the story.
go on to say
go on to describe
go on to explain

And she'll go on and add to this.

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Examples

Go on.

Saw X (2023)
Yeah, go on, go on.

Back to Black (2024)
I mean, I could go on and on and on.
I mean, I could go on and on and on.
Things like go on, tell me more, what else?

Simon Sinek
So why not pause and then go on, if you will?
How much longer must we go on with this nonsense?

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Go on, make the move.

Camp Daze (2005)
One of the preachers said, "Ah, go on, man, and stop all this suspense."

Fiction book (1990)
Go on!

The Exile (1947)

Synonyms

to go ahead

vsto go on

∞ 2.3

Start or continue something after deciding to do it

is used to continue speaking after a pause when someone encourages

to add

vsto go on

969 1.0

Say something more to give extra information or comment

focuses on continuing speaking at length after a pause rather than a brief remark

to keep going

vsto go on

892 1.6

To continue doing something without stopping

is about resuming or continuing speech after a pause rather than steady continuation

to proceed

vsto go on

697 3.0

Begin or continue an action after a pause, often as planned

is focused on continuing spoken words after a pause rather than general action

to keep on

vsto go on

604 1.4

Continue doing something without stopping

is about continuing spoken words after a pause rather than nonstop action

to carry on

vsto go on

285 2.7

To continue doing something after an interruption or when it is difficult

is about continuing speech after a pause rather than persisting through problems

to continue

vsto go on

145 1.0

To start again after a pause

is specific to speech resumption after a pause or when someone prompts

to carry on with

vsto go on

29 2.6

Continue doing something after a pause or interruption

is about continuing speech after a pause rather than resuming an activity

go on then

vsto go on

21 7.7

To tell someone to start or continue after they hesitate

is for continuing speech after a pause when someone prompts

Antonyms

to be quiet

445 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

How Long

to ramble

Informal

51 5.3

to keep the conversation going

4 3.4

to go on

874 1.8

to continue

145 1.0

Surface Forms

go on infinitive

went on past

gone on past participle

going on present participle

goes on third person singular

Morphology

go + on

The sense 'to start running/operating' is directly derivable from combining 'go' (begin to run or be in action) with 'on' (into an active/operational state); a learner who knows both constituents can infer this meaning. The verb+on composition pattern signaling change into an active/working state is common in English and relatively transparent cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner is likely to understand it.

Etymology

Go on for speaking uses the same image: your words go on like a person who keeps walking along a path. So it means 'to continue speaking' after a pause.