1 A2 neutral
To return to a physical place.
"After a year abroad, she was excited to go back to her hometown."
inseparable
go back to
A2 neutral inseparable transitive
To return to a place, person, activity, or topic.
In plain English
To return somewhere, or to start doing something again that you had stopped.
What does "go back to" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 A2 neutral
To resume an activity or state that was paused or abandoned.
"She took a year off and then decided to go back to university."
inseparable
3 B1 neutral
To return to an earlier topic in a conversation or piece of writing.
"Let me go back to the point I was making before we got sidetracked."
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To go (travel) back to (a specific place or thing).
Actually means
To return somewhere, or to start doing something again that you had stopped.
Usage tip
Extremely common across all contexts. 'Go back to sleep', 'go back to work', 'go back to school' are very frequent fixed expressions. Also used in discourse to return to a previously discussed point.
Words that pair with "go back to"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
sleep work school basics beginning normal
How to conjugate "go back to"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
go back to
I/you/we/they
3rd person
goes back to
he/she/it
Past simple
went back to
yesterday
Past participle
gone back to
have + pp
-ing form
going back to
continuous
Hear "go back to" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "go back to" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
Keep exploring
Jump to every phrasal verb built on the same verb, particle, or level.