English Reference

Phrasal verb

go away

Definition

phrasal verb. To leave a place or person. You can also use it as a direct command to tell someone to leave you alone.

phrasal verb. To depart from a location; an intransitive phrasal verb. It is also frequently used as an imperative to command someone to leave.

Examples

“We go away for a week every summer.”

“The headache finally started to go away after I took some medicine.”

“The persistent feeling of unease would not go away, lingering long after the strange event had concluded.”

Examples

simple

“We go away for a week every summer.”

contextual

“The headache finally started to go away after I took some medicine.”

complex

“The persistent feeling of unease would not go away, lingering long after the strange event had concluded.”

Usage

As a command, 'Go away!' is very direct and can be considered rude.

Teaching tip

Contrast the literal meaning of travel ('go away for the weekend') with the abrupt imperative ('Go away!'), which carries a strong negative pragmatic force.

Pitfall

He went away the city.

He went away from the city.

'Go away' is intransitive and cannot take a direct object; a preposition like 'from' is needed to specify the location.

Phrasal verb

Particles

away

Separability

inseparable

Pattern

go + away

Synonyms

Antonyms

Grammar

This entry

Level
A2 · Elementary
Updated

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