weggehen
to leave
To leave a place; to move away from a place.
EXAMPLE
Ich muss jetzt weggehen, sonst verpasse ich meinen Bus.
I have to leave now, otherwise I'll miss my bus.
weggehen
to leave / go out
Checking...
Loading your saved state.
Meanings
weggehen
to go out
To leave the house in order to have fun, often in the evening at bars, clubs, parties, or the cinema.
EXAMPLE
Wollen wir am Samstagabend zusammen weggehen?
Do we want to go out together on Saturday evening?
weggehen
to come out
To be removable or disappear, especially with stains or dirt.
EXAMPLE
Ich hoffe, dieser Rotweinfleck geht beim Waschen wieder weg.
I hope this red wine stain comes out in the wash.
weggehen
to sell
Colloquial for 'to be sold', often referring to goods that are very popular and sell quickly.
EXAMPLE
Die Konzertkarten sind weggegangen wie warme Semmeln.
The concert tickets sold like hotcakes.
Usage tips
Separable verb
'Weggehen' (to leave / go out) is a separable verb. The prefix 'weg-' comes at the end in a main clause. In subordinate clauses and in the infinitive with 'zu', the verb stays together.
EXAMPLE
Wann gehst du heute von der Arbeit weg?
When are you leaving work today?
Perfect tense with 'sein'
As a verb that describes movement or a change of location, 'weggehen' (to leave / go out) forms the perfect tense with the auxiliary verb 'sein'. A common source of errors is using 'haben'.
EXAMPLE
Sie ist schon vor einer Stunde weggegangen.
She left an hour ago.
Colloquial meaning
In everyday language, 'weggehen' very often means going out in the evening for entertainment, for example to a bar, a club, the cinema, or a party.
EXAMPLE
Lass uns am Freitagabend zusammen weggehen und tanzen.
Let's go out together on Friday evening and dance.
Sentence structure with stains
When talking about stains or dirt, the stain itself is the subject of the sentence. The verb then describes whether the stain disappears or not.
EXAMPLE
Der Kaffeefleck auf meinem Hemd geht einfach nicht weg.
The coffee stain on my shirt just won't come out.
Fixed expression
In the meaning 'to sell well', the verb is often part of the idiom 'weggehen wie warme Semmeln' (to sell like hotcakes). This means that a product sells extremely quickly and well.
EXAMPLE
Die neuen Smartphones gehen weg wie warme Semmeln.
The new smartphones are selling like hotcakes.
Compare with
weggehen vs entfernen
to remove
Both verbs refer to leaving a place. „Weggehen“ is the straightforward choice in everyday language. „Sich entfernen“ often sounds more formal and can emphasize more strongly that someone is deliberately keeping their distance from a particular place.
weggehen
Paul bittet die Besucher, vom Eingang wegzugehen.
Paul asks the visitors to go away from the entrance.
entfernen
Der Sicherheitsdienst fordert die Besucher auf, sich vom Eingang zu entfernen.
Security asks the visitors to move away from the entrance.
In real life
Loading video examples...