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I feel like "I went to school at 7 am" means I started waking out of my house at 7 am and then was on my way to school. Maybe, I would arrive at school in 15 minutes at 7:15 am.

However, chatgpt says "I went to school at 7 am" might mean both "started going" or "arrived" depending on the situation or context.

But, I feel like "I went to school at 7 am" tends to say I started going then I arrived, but I am not sure.

Does "I went to school at 7 am" mean I started going to school at 7 am or I arrived school at 7 am?

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    It depends on the context and could mean either.
    – Stuart F
    Jul 5 at 16:00

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It means to you what it means to a native English speaker. We'd need clarity.

We can specify by saying things like:

  • I left for school at 8am
  • I got to school at 9pm

There are occasions where it might be tacit whether a person means departure or arrival times. For example, if said you went to the movies (cinema) "at 9pm" it might be assumed that was the time the movie started, but that isn't a certainty, so if you want to be clear, be specific.

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