Forego means to go before. It’s easy to remember because both forego and before have an e. Forgo means to do without or to pass up voluntarily. Forgo has so thoroughly encroached on forego‘s territory that the original meaning of forego may soon be lost. This would be unfortunate, as forego is a useful word.
The past-tense forms of these verbs are forewent and forwent. Foregone and forgone are the past participles.
Examples
While searching, we found it difficult to track down any instances of forego used in its traditional sense. Please comment if you can find any. Forego is almost always used as an alternative spelling of forgo. For example, these writers use forego in place of forgo:
The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress could forego trying to approve a budget blueprint this year . . . [Reuters]
Unions representing the county’s 8,000 workers agreed to forego cost-of-living raises for the next two years . . . [Baltimore Sun]
Hobson announced he will forego his senior season in pursuit of his NBA dreams. [Daily Lobo]
Let’s look at some positive examples to balance out the negative. Here are a few examples of correct forgo usage:
Members of the General Assembly were wise to forgo a pay raise when the budgets of so many Georgians are stretched to the limit. [Times Herald]
Increasingly, people are forgoing the gratification of instant electronic communication for a slower, more personal approach . . . [Independent]
Natalie’s mother . . . said she was not surprised by her daughter’s decision to forgo Bat Mitzvah gifts. [Stuff.co.nz]
Foregone conclusion
Foregone is correct in the phrase foregone conclusion—meaning a conclusion that is inevitable—for example:
According to Jonathan Powell, of Positive Weather Solutions, a white Christmas for all of us in Britain is now “a foregone conclusion”. [Telegraph (UK)]
