Meaning & use
go to school
Last updated
Meanings
phrasephrasal verb
To attend a school as a student, or to travel to school for the day.
Grammar: No article before school when talking about being a student: go to school.
Patterns
- go to school in a place
- go to school with someone
My children go to school by bus.
She goes to school in the next town.
I didn't go to school today because I was sick.
phrasephrasal verbinformalAmerican
To study at a college or university, or to spend years in education.
Grammar: Informal, especially in American English: he went to school in Boston.
Patterns
- go to school for something
He went to school for six years to become a veterinarian.
She is going to school at night to finish her degree.
They went to school together in Chicago.
Word forms
| third person singular | goes to school |
|---|---|
| past tense | went to school |
| past participle | gone to school |
| -ing form | going to school |
Common combinations
- go to school by bus
- He goes to school by bus.
- go to school together
- The twins go to school together.
- go to school late
- I went to school late after the alarm failed.
- go back to school
- She decided to go back to school at forty.
- go to school with
- I went to school with her brother.
Synonyms and how they differ
- attend school
- Attend school is more formal and often used in reports and forms.
- be in school
- Be in school describes a current state, not the journey there.
- study
- Study is about learning, while go to school is about being enrolled or traveling to a place.
- enroll
- Enroll means to officially register, which is a one-time step.
Opposites
Word family
- school noun
- a place of education
- schooling noun
- education received
- schoolchild noun
- a child who goes to school
- schoolwork noun
- work done for school
Commonly confused: go to school or go to the school?
go to school vs go to the school
With the, it means going to the building for another reason, such as a meeting.
Practice
My brother is a student, so he ___ every weekday.
Choose one answer.
For a student attending lessons, no article is used and he needs goes. Goes to the school would mean visiting the building for some other purpose.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “go to school”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.