“I went to see a talk last night.”
You went to a talk given by a writer last night at a community center in your neighborhood. Your coworker asks you what you did last night and you tell her about the event. You answer them like this.
I went to see a talk last night.
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(someone) went to (do something)
Usually when you use the word "go" or "went", you have to tell where you went:
She went to the convenience store.
But when you say that you "went to (do something)" it means that you went somewhere for a specific purpose. For example:
She went to get beer.
In this case, you don't need to say where the person went.
see a talk
"A talk" is an event where an author, a researcher, an expert, or some other person speaks to a large audience.
It's similar to a "speech", but a speech is more associated with politics, debating issues, or formal ceremonies. A "talk" is for explaining interesting ideas to people.
You "see" a talk or other performance. Some other things that you can "see" include:
- see a dance performance
- see a play
- see a concert
On the other hand, for TV and movies it's more common to say that you "watch a movie" or "watch TV".