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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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 Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:27 am Post subject: Grammar question- 'was gone to' |
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-'I was gone' =correct (eg- 'In the morning, I was gone.')
but
-'I was gone to the hospital' =incorrect
I understand 'I was gone' is in the past passive tense. How can I explain to a student why it is possible to make the first sentence but not the second? |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:04 am Post subject: |
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I think I already found the answer. 'I was gone (in the morning)' is a stative (or static, or resultative) passive, whereas 'I was gone to the hospital' would be a an eventive (or dynamic) passive.
I guess the best explanation then would simply be that the verb 'go' allows the stative passive but not the eventive passive. If someone has a better explanation I would be happy to hear it though. |
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Thiuda
Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Location: Religion ist f�r Sklaven geschaffen, f�r Wesen ohne Geist.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:14 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question- 'was gone to' |
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| asylum seeker wrote: |
-'I was gone' =correct (eg- 'In the morning, I was gone.')
but
-'I was gone to the hospital' =incorrect
I understand 'I was gone' is in the past passive tense. How can I explain to a student why it is possible to make the first sentence but not the second? |
In the sentence I was gone, was is the past tense form of the be-verb and gone is an adjective that describes the subject. In your second example the speaker is expressing that an action had been completed before another action, it is therefore in the past perfect tense. The past perfect tense requires the helping verb had. |
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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:41 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question- 'was gone to' |
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| Thiuda wrote: |
| asylum seeker wrote: |
-'I was gone' =correct (eg- 'In the morning, I was gone.')
but
-'I was gone to the hospital' =incorrect
I understand 'I was gone' is in the past passive tense. How can I explain to a student why it is possible to make the first sentence but not the second? |
In the sentence I was gone, was is the past tense form of the be-verb and gone is an adjective that describes the subject. In your second example the speaker is expressing that an action had been completed before another action, it is therefore in the past perfect tense. The past perfect tense requires the helping verb had. |
I'm so glad I don't get asked these kinds of questions. I always know what's right and what's not, but I could never explain it like this.
also.. using a stative verb explanation would cause a student to say - can you explain that in ENGLISH please?
Thiuda, I just wanted to give you huge props. I've been following your responses on such threads for a while and I typically come away quite impressed.
That said, I feel really sorry for you vis a vis the education/courses you had to endure to come up with such explanations. I'd rather have a root canal without any anaesthesia. |
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proudman
Joined: 24 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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correct usage:
i do reckon that that there ve-hickle 'was gone' take me to the grocer, but by da time we got her runnin, the dab gum grocer was closed |
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Thiuda
Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Location: Religion ist f�r Sklaven geschaffen, f�r Wesen ohne Geist.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:58 pm Post subject: Re: Grammar question- 'was gone to' |
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| Cerberus wrote: |
Thiuda, I just wanted to give you huge props. I've been following your responses on such threads for a while and I typically come away quite impressed.
That said, I feel really sorry for you vis a vis the education/courses you had to endure to come up with such explanations. I'd rather have a root canal without any anaesthesia. |
Thanks. Re the root canal without anaesthesia, I haven't taken too many grammar courses. Answers like the above come from teaching a variation of the same material again and again and again and again and again... |
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kinerry
Joined: 01 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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off topic, but I'm currently getting a root canal
cheap, fast, easy
I love socialized Korean health care vs my American health care system back home |
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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| kinerry wrote: |
off topic, but I'm currently getting a root canal
cheap, fast, easy
I love socialized Korean health care vs my American health care system back home |
+1 |
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The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
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| Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 4:00 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question- 'was gone to' |
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| Thiuda wrote: |
| asylum seeker wrote: |
-'I was gone' =correct (eg- 'In the morning, I was gone.')
but
-'I was gone to the hospital' =incorrect
I understand 'I was gone' is in the past passive tense. How can I explain to a student why it is possible to make the first sentence but not the second? |
In the sentence I was gone, was is the past tense form of the be-verb and gone is an adjective that describes the subject. In your second example the speaker is expressing that an action had been completed before another action, it is therefore in the past perfect tense. The past perfect tense requires the helping verb had. |
...there is little doubt that Thiuda is mastering a trade of hard knocks.
...nice and concise Thiuda...well done. 
Just to add...though maybe a little off the main topic.
Without any context for those sentences:
I was gone.
I was gone to the hospital.
...several interpretations could be inferred.
Thiuda chose what I agree to be the most likely interpretation, and explanation...improper verb usage.
However, if we took the verbal�was gone�it could mean�the mental state as well.
I was totally gone�wasted.
In that sense�.I was gone in the hospital�I was gone at the hospital...would now be correct...idiomatically...though without the intensifier it tends to lose its idiomatic nature in written discourse.
In this light�it would just be a prepositional error�and only slightly at that...as when we start into verbs with idiomatic nature...well...almost anything is possible.
Anyway�just thought I would add that for what it is worth. |
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