Hi :) In French the preterit (in French "passé simple") is not very used in daily life, more in stories. I went = je suis allé This tense is called in French "passé composé" Sorry for my english, i tried to explain to you more clear as possible :) hope can help

The verb for "to go" is aller. If you want to express a one-time action, like in "Yesterday I went to the beach", you use the passé composé in French. In this case, "Je suis allé". (être + participe passé. Most verbs use avoir instead of être, though). If you want to say something you used to do, like in "When I was a kid, I went to the beach every day", you use the imperfait in French, In this case, "J'allais".