to go on
- phrasal verb
- /ɡoʊ ɑn/
- 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.
- And she'll go on and add to this.
- This is what Europeans go on and on about about us.
- So he goes on and he says, here we go.
- Things like go on, tell me more, what else?
- So then I right, she goes on and this made my fucking day.
- OK, let's go on to the next question.
- But to have to go on and on and on.
Examples
-
Go on.
-
Yeah, go on, go on.
-
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?
-
So why not pause and then go on, if you will?
-
How much longer must we go on with this nonsense?
-
Go on, make the move.
-
One of the preachers said, "Ah, go on, man, and stop all this suspense."
Fiction book (1990) -
Go on!
Synonyms
Start or continue something after deciding to do it
To start again after a pause
Say something more to give extra information or comment
Begin or continue an action after a pause, often as planned
To continue doing something without stopping
Continue doing something without stopping
To continue doing something after an interruption or when it is difficult
Continue doing something after a pause or interruption
To tell someone to start or continue after they hesitate
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
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.