Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[dido4]

He has gone to the market.

Q1:Can we say: He is gone to the market.

Q2:Why?

Thank you.

[2006]

I would not say "He is gone to the market." That would be as bad as saying 'He is bought a new car.'
"is" should be used before nouns and adjectives, not before verbs.

"He has gone to the market." is correct, but I would normally say 'He went to the market.' Without any special context, simple past tense is adequate.

[Lorikeet]

I might say, "He's gone to the market." In this case, "He's" is "He has" and not "He is" which might caust some confusion.

[CP]

To make matters worse, at one time "is gone" was the right way to say "has gone."

In German, ist gegangen (is gone) is the correct way to say has gone, although for most verbs the auxiliary verb would be has, just as in English.

French, too, uses to be as the auxiliary verb for to go, in Il est alle, "he is (has) gone," although, again, have is the common auxiliary verb.

Both German and French have greatly influenced English.

You can still see "he is gone" and "we are come" and the like in older English texts, when they still used to be instead of to have with come, go and a few others.
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[Lorikeet]

I think I still use "He's gone" and think it's "He is gone" but not if I add "to the market" which makes it even crazier.