forego, foregoing, foregone, forgo

Forego means to go before or precede, in time or place. It usually occurs in the forms foregoing and foregone.

• No matter what you think of the foregoing words, you must agree that the pictures are astonishing.

In the expression a foregone conclusion, the adjective foregone indicates that the outcome could be seen in advance.

• The party’s election was a foregone conclusion.

Forgo means to abstain from, do without or relinquish. The spelling forego is an accepted variant.

• The board members were not prepared to forgo (or forego) their privileges.
• More and more Canadians are forgoing (or foregoing) leisure activities to do volunteer work in the community.
• Many parents have forgone (or foregone) certain luxuries to pay for their children’s university education.

© Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus^®, la banque de données terminologiques et linguistiques du gouvernement du Canada
Outils d'aide à la rédaction – Writing Tips
Un produit du Bureau de la traduction