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"it could be. Madame 's got a gallery somewhere filled with stuff by students from when they were tiny. Suppose two people come up and say they're in love. She can find the art they've done over years and years. She can see if they go. If they match. Don't forget, Kath, what she's got reveals our souls. She could decide for herself what's a good match and what's just a stupid crush."

A passage form Never Let Me Go. Does it means if they(the Madame people) can go to check the arts? or if they(the lovers) are really in love?

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  • The word go can have several subtle meanings. Usually, you will need the context. According to the passage, I'm still not quite sure which one between "they can get along" or "their relationship will go bad". But of course, I guess that it would mean "get along".
    – Damkerng T.
    Dec 6, 2013 at 8:00
  • Please provide a link to the passage, if it can be found online. It would be helpful to consult more context.
    – Alan Carmack
    Oct 27, 2016 at 16:49

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I think "go" here is an abbreviated version of "go together". "Go together" is an idiom meaning "are well-suited to each other", "are compatible", or "make a good pair". You might say, "This lamp and this chair go together" meaning that you think the styles of each are such that they are attractive when placed next to each other. We often say that two people "go together" meaning that we think that they make a good couple. (Perhaps I should clarify that we also say "those two people go together" meaning that they are involved in a dating relationship, which phrase, I think, has totally different origins but ends up being a closely-related idea. The two ideas go together. :-)

The word "go" can have other meanings that would fit here, like "work", as in, "Does this car go?" meaning, "Does it work correctly, does the engine run, etc.?" But the next sentence is "If they match", so I think the writer is stating the same idea in two different ways for emphasis, "If they go [together]. If they match."

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The meaning can be inferred here from the mention of two people. Go here is in the sense of

to be acceptable or suitable

That is, Madame can see, based on the art in her collection, whether the two people are a match for each other, whether they harmonize.

Although I'm not accustomed to hearing this usage in discussions of romance, you could use it any field where complementarity is important, like cuisine, music, fashion, or decor:

These shoes and this purse go well.

That color is fine for the den, but will it go in the nursery?

And I would further say that in all cases it is more common, at least in the U.S., to use phrasal verbs like go with or go together to express the same sentiment.

You wouldn't think that egg yolk, sugar, and cayenne pepper go together, but that's how you make a Mae West.

Nothing goes with football like beer.

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I'm not quit sure, but I think 'go' here means 'go together', and if it's that, it means if they can stand each other and live together well.

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