I'm doing the Cambridge Upper-intermediate English course and there is a lection on "go xxx" phrasal verbs.
Go ahead – to start to do something
Go on – to start operating / to continue or move to the next thing
I don't really understand when to use "go on" and when to use "go ahead" meaning to start something if there is any difference?
Go off – to stop liking or being interested in someone or something
Go for – to like or admire
Could you give me example sentences, please? Are these phrases often used? I have never seen the first one hold this meaning. I know its meaning to be "(of a warning device) to start to ring loudly or make a loud noise". As for the second one, I know it like "Go for it" or "Take it" or thing like that.
Best Answer
They can have multiple senses. You can distinguish to some extent by their accompanying phrases, but the tricky part is knowing when you have a phrasal verb rather than a verb followed by a preposition.
go on
has five separate senses noted in Princeton WordNet:The first sense takes a complement verb phrase in its present participle form. The remaining senses second, third and fourth senses are intransitive. The example that another answer gives ("go on to bigger and better things") is debatable whether it's better analyzed as a phrasal verb ("go on") + a prepositional phrase ("to bigger...") or if it's a case of preposition doubling akin to ("climb up to the fourth floor").
go ahead
as a phrasal verb has only one sense listed on WordNet:One sense that I can think of that's not phrasal verb use is would be like "you go ahead, we'll catch up", where "ahead" functions similar to "home" in "go home".