English term
went for a walk
| 5 +16 | went for a walk |
MedTrans&More
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Feb 15, 2011 22:44: Travelin Ann changed "Term asked" from "went walking or went for a walk?" to "went for a walk"
Non-PRO (2): British Diana, Cilian O'Tuama
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Responses
United Kingdom
Specialist Medical & General Translation
Native in: English 
, Portuguese
Works in: English to Portuguese, Spanish to Portuguese, Portuguese, and 4 more.
went for a walk
| agree |
TrueBaller
: Of course! Go/went walking is not natural English.
2 mins
|
| agree |
Sheila Wilson
: I agree that this is the most natural for spoken English but the other term is correct when writing more formally
5 mins
|
| agree |
Arabic & More
9 mins
|
| agree |
Mark Nathan
: with Sheila
30 mins
|
| agree |
Jennifer Levey
: Yes. You could 'go for a walk' and be home in time for breakfast; 'if you're 'going walking' you'd better take a packed breakfast (and lunch) with you.
49 mins
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| agree |
cmwilliams (X)
: I agree with Domaikia's discussion comment. 'Went walking' is also used in spoken English and is not necessarily more formal than the other term.
1 hr
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| agree |
Phong Le
3 hrs
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| agree |
Thayenga
: with Sheila. :)
7 hrs
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| agree |
Jenny G
: Mediamatrix gave a nice and clear example!
7 hrs
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| agree |
Martina Pokupec (X)
8 hrs
|
| agree |
Sarah Bessioud
9 hrs
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| agree |
Pham Huu Phuoc
9 hrs
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| agree |
kmtext
: If it's a short stroll, I'd use "went for a walk", but if it's a longer or more intensive walk, I'd use "went walking", for example, "Where did you go on holiday?" "We went walking in the Lake District."
10 hrs
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| agree |
Carol Gullidge
: for both formal and informal use. "going walking in the Lake District" would perhaps imply that you're going on a walking break/holiday - as kmtext says
10 hrs
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| agree |
B D Finch
: "To go walking" is absolutely normal, natural English. However, the difference between that and "to go for the walk" has been explained in the discussion.
10 hrs
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| disagree |
Cilian O'Tuama
: disagree that "went walking" is not natural English
10 hrs
|
| agree |
British Diana
: "go for a walk" is more like "take (the dog for)a walk"
13 hrs
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| agree |
jenbikkal (X)
1 day 4 hrs
|
Discussion
Domaikia's distinction is also valid.