The Phrasal Verb 'Go In' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Dec 26, 2025
- 12 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'go in' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
This post is all about the common phrasal verb 'go in'. In the post, we will look at all of the different meanings and applications of it in English, including everything from simply entering somewhere to criticising someone or something. I will explain how to use each one in a natural way with the help of lots of example sentences and so at the end of the post, you should hopefully feel nice and comfortable with using this useful phrasal verb. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
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THE BASICS
GO IN: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 5 |
Past tense forms | Went in / Gone in |
Separable? | No |
At the beginning of each phrasal verb post, I like to break down the chosen phrasal verb into its constituent words and look at what each one means on its own. Whilst I am sure that all of you reading this will be very familiar with the words 'go' and 'in', let's just briefly consider them from the perspective of the phrasal verb 'go in'....
Go - The verb 'to go' is one of the most common verbs in the English language and it's main meaning is to refer to movement from one place to another, away from where the speaker is. It can be used to talk both about leaving somewhere and travelling to somewhere. In addition, 'to go' has a wide variety of other uses and applications, like forming the 'going to' future tense, talking about where something belongs or fits and to fade or no longer work properly. 'To go' is highly irregular, with perhaps the most illogical past tense form in the entire English language: 'went' 🤷♂️
We are going to London to watch a show in the West End.
Kathy went to the shops with her daughter.
Come on, it's late. Let's go home.
Mark is going to get a new job next year.
The black book goes on the top shelf, next to the picture.
I am getting old and my hearing is going.
In - Like the verb 'to go', you will all have no problem understanding the prepositional particle 'in' as it is so common in English. We typically use 'in' to talk about being or moving towards the interior of something and its use in phrasal verbs can often reflect this in a literal sense (move in, walk in). Aside from this, 'in' can also add ideas such as participation (join in), submission (hand in), confinement (lock in) and compliance (give in) to phrasal verbs.
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'go in'....
MEANING 1: To enter
CEFR Language Level | A1 - Beginner |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To enter, to go into, to access, to get in |
Separable? | No |
Let's start the meanings of the phrasal verb 'go in' with the most obvious of all of its applications, i.e. to enter a place, which is essentially a literal meaning of the two words combined.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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For this first usage, we are perhaps most concerned with nouns for internal spaces that we can enter such as a house, a building or a room. When you 'go in' one of these*, you simply enter it from the outside. Note that 'go in' is only used when the speaker is outside of the internal space and 'come in' would be used if they were inside it and another person was entering.
It’s beginning to rain; let’s go in!
Pam opened the door and went in.
I knocked the door but no one answered, so I went in.
The lights were on inside the house, so Ash decided to go in.
We were freezing cold, so we went in to warm up.
Luke hesitated for a moment by the door and then went in.
If the door is unlocked open, just go in and take a seat.
You should note that we do not only use 'go in' to talk about entering internal spaces and we can also in fact use it with nouns for environments like river, ocean or forest.
The water looks cold, but I’m going in anyway.
The sea is too rough right now; don’t go in!
The forest was dark, yet the hikers still went in.
*Go in vs Go IntoSomething that can be confusing for learners of English is the distinction between 'to go in' and 'to go into' as they both technically mean the same thing but are used differently. We tend to use both of these when we talk about entering somewhere, with the focus for 'go in' being on the movement, while for 'go into' the focus is the destination. For example, if you want to talk about the action of entering a house but you do not need to mention the word 'house' as it is obvious from the context, you would use 'go in'. However, if you want to specify the noun for the place that you are entering, then 'go into' sounds better.
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BONUS: Some additional uses of 'go in' used literally
There are also some other instances of when you might hear 'go in' in a literal sense that are slightly different to the meaning that I explained above......
The sun - We use 'go in' to talk about the sun when it goes behind a cloud, making the day feel cooler and slightly darker. This is a particularly British usage (we have a lot of clouds) and the opposite phrasal verb for when the clouds move away and the sun is visible once again is 'come out'.
It was lovely and warm until the sun went in.
A household object - When we talk about household objects, such as plates, boxes or cutlery and where they are kept in the house, we use 'go in' to say that something is always kept in an internal space like a drawer or cupboard.
The knives and forks go in the cutlery drawer, next to the sink.
Cooking ingredients - If you enjoy cooking, you may often hear 'go in' being used to talk about when specific ingredients are added to a cooking mixture.
First add the flour and stir for 2 minutes and then the peppers and tomatoes go in.
Work / School - If you are ever sick and you cannot go to work or school, you might use 'go in' to say that you are not going that day. As with the previous uses, we would only use this when the place is known from the context.
I feel so sick today and can't work, I'm not going to go in.
MEANING 2: To mentally absorb something
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Mainly British English |
Potential synonyms | To absorb, to understand, to stick |
Separable? | No |
For our second meaning of 'go in', we are not going to move too far away from the 'entering' idea that we just looked at in the previous section as this one means 'to mentally absorb something'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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First of all, if you are not sure about the verb 'to absorb', let me explain what it means, which is 'to gradually take something in', like a sponge does with water. When used with information, the water is the information and the sponge is our brain absorbing and holding it. We use 'absorb' in this way to say that we have learned and understood something and 'go in' functions here as a direct synonym of it as it means the exact same thing.
Linking back to the previous application, essentially the information that we are learning here is entering our brains via our senses. The other key idea to note here with 'go in' is that the information is understood, retained and not forgotten again.
You will often hear native speakers using this particular application in a negative sense when information does not go in. For example, when you are reading a book and you have to read the same page three or four times as you are not concentrating properly or the subject is difficult to process and the information is just not going in. Note that you do not need to use 'my head' or 'my brain' with this application as 'go in' on its own will be completely understood in the context.
I hear what you’re saying, but it’s not really going in.
Nothing was going in because I was too tired.
The teacher kept explaining it, but it just wouldn’t go in.
I’ve read this paragraph three times, and it still isn’t going in.
The instructions weren’t going in at all, so I asked my friend to explain them to me.
The information went in eventually, but it took a while.
BONUS: The idiom 'to go in one ear and out the other'
This is a good point in the article to introduce you to a nice little idiom featuring 'go in' that exists: 'to go in one ear and out the other'.
If something goes in one ear and out the other, it means that the person hears it but either forgets it again straight away or does not pay any attention to it. It is something that many frustrated parents use to talk about their teenage children!
It's always the same with Pete; you tell him something important and it goes in one ear and out the other again!
MEANING 3: To enjoy doing something
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To enjoy, to like, to care for, to be fond of, to be partial to |
Separable? | No |
The third of our applications of 'go in' is a rarer meaning than the first two and means 'to enjoy doing something'.
For this application, we require the additional preposition 'for', giving us the following construction:
'to go in for something'
We use this particular application to talk about when we have a hobby or a pastime that we enjoy doing on a regular basis and it is often used to talk about someone's personal preferences in these areas. Typically, activities that are used with this application are things like running, cycling, playing chess and fishing as well as nouns like parties, horror movies or photography.
It can be used to talk in both a positive and negative sense about what you do and don't usually enjoy doing, however I would say that you typically hear it more in a negative sense. This is particularly so if you make an exception to something that you don't normally like, e.g. you don't normally like horror movies but you enjoyed one that you watched or you don't usually enjoy parties but you had a great time at one last week.
Lucy really goes in for yoga and meditation.
I don’t usually go in for extreme sports but I am tempted to try abseiling.
My brother’s never gone in for formal parties; he's more of a stay-at-home kind of guy.
My parents used to go in for long-distance running.
I don’t usually go in for reality TV but this show is a bit different to the usual rubbish.
Nikki’s started going in for photography lately.
Ben doesn’t go in for junk food anymore now that he is a gym junkie.
I’ve never really gone in for competitions but I thought I would enter this one.
Do you go in for team sports or prefer solo activities?
MEANING 4: To participate in a group activity
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To participate |
Separable? | No |
This next application of 'go in' is a great one for all of you who enjoy taking part in group activities as that is exactly what it means: 'to take part in a group activity'.
As with the previous application, we need another preposition to bring this meaning to life but this time we are swapping the word 'for' with 'on', giving us the construction....
'to go in on something'
We can use 'to go in on something' in two different ways and therefore I have split this application into separate sub-sections; 'to jointly participate in a plan or action' and 'to share the cost of an investment or action with others'.
Firstly, let's consider joint participation in a plan or action of some kind. We would typically use this application in business English when people collaborate with one another. This could be for many reasons, such as to initiate a plan, start a business or embark on a research project. When you go in on something in this sense, it means that you achieve or create something together with the help of other people and it is not just you on your own.
Peter went in on the business as a silent partner.
I’ll go in on the proposal if you promise to handle the budget.
Several teams are planning to go in on the research project.
Lorraine went in on the plan despite the risks.
The second of our sub-applications of 'go in' is one that also involves co-operation between people, however this one is specifically about money. For this one, we are talking about when people each contribute a portion of the cost of something, so that they have enough between them to buy it. You are most likely to hear this in an office or work environment when an employee celebrates a big birthday or leaves the business and all of his or her colleagues go in on a present and card for them. This could also be used for when people jointly invest in something and each contribute some of the funds.
We should go in on a joint birthday gift for Brian instead of buying separate ones.
The whole family went in on renting a beach house for the summer.
Do you want to go in on half of the bill with me?
My colleagues went in on a lovely farewell present for me.
MEANING 5: To attack or criticise someone harshly
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To attack, to criticise |
Separable? | No |
We have now reached our fifth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'go in' and this one is 'to attack or criticise someone or something harshly'.
Like with the previous application, we also require the additional preposition 'on' here.
If you go in on someone or something, then you criticise them and give lots of negative feedback, which are often unfair or too harsh. When talking about going in on someone, it can also mean to shout aggressively at someone when they have done something wrong.
As far as I know, this is quite a new and modern usage of 'go in on' and is still relatively rare, however I do hear it more and more in informal spoken English, so if you do want your English to sound as up-to-date as possible, you should try and use it 😃
Roger's manager went in on him for missing the deadline.
People online went in on the brand after the scandal came out.
The teacher went in on the class for not preparing for the exam.
Commentators went in on the referee’s decision, which they called stupid!
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'go in'. If you enjoyed this post (and if it went in ok 😉), please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'go in'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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