Meaning & use
go through
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Meanings
verbphrasal verb
To suffer or experience something, especially something hard or unpleasant.
Grammar: Takes an object: go through a divorce.
Patterns
- go through something
She went through a difficult time after losing her job.
He has gone through a lot since moving abroad.
No one should have to go through that alone.
verbphrasal verb
To look at or check something carefully, piece by piece.
Grammar: Takes an object: go through the files.
Patterns
- go through something
- go through something with someone
Let's go through the report together before the meeting.
The customs officer went through our bags.
She went through the old letters one by one.
verbphrasal verb
To pass from one side or end of something to the other, or to be approved and completed.
Grammar: Intransitive for an approval: the deal went through. Takes an object for a physical path: go through the tunnel.
Patterns
- go through something
- something goes through
The train went through the tunnel in under a minute.
The sale finally went through on Friday.
The new law will go through parliament next month.
verbphrasal verbinformal
To use up or finish a supply of something.
Grammar: Takes an object: go through the milk.
Patterns
- go through something
The kids go through a whole loaf of bread in two days.
We went through three tanks of gas on that trip.
She goes through pairs of running shoes quickly.
Word forms
| third person singular | goes through |
|---|---|
| past tense | went through |
| past participle | gone through |
| -ing form | going through |
Common combinations
- go through a lot
- He's gone through a lot this year.
- go through the motions
- She went through the motions at work, her mind elsewhere.
- go through a phase
- Many toddlers go through a phase of saying no to everything.
- go through the roof
- Prices went through the roof after the shortage.
- go through with
- I can't believe you went through with it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- endure
- Endure is more formal and stresses surviving hardship, while go through is more everyday.
- examine
- Examine is formal and sounds technical, whereas go through is casual and can mean a quick check.
- experience
- Experience is neutral and can be pleasant, while go through usually points to something hard.
- review
- Review means look back over something to judge it, a bit more formal than go through.
Opposites
Word family
- going-through noun
- rare; the act of going through something
- through preposition
- from one side to the other
- walk-through noun
- a careful explanation or rehearsal
- read-through noun
- a first reading of a script or document
Commonly confused: go through or go through with? go through or get through?
go through vs go through with
Go through with means to complete something difficult you planned, not simply experience it.
go through vs get through
Get through stresses managing to survive or finish, while go through stresses the experience itself.
Practice
Which sentence uses go through to mean examine something carefully?
Choose one answer.
Going through every answer means checking each one carefully. The others mean experience, be approved and use up.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “go through”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.