Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[nawee]

Hello,

When there is a power cut and there are no lights, do we say:

The lights are out.
or
The lights go out.

or is there a more natural way to say that there's no electricity and it's dark.

Thank you.

Nawee

[Lorikeet]

I would probably say, "The lights went out," meaning the electricity went out (stopped). You could also say, "The lights are out."

"The lights go out" is simple present tense, so it would need a sentence like, "Everytime we have a bad rainstorm, the lights go out."