he is gone or he has gone

[mohammad]

Hi, everybody

He’s gone => it would be either “he is gone” or “he has gone” which one is correct?
Let me say I‘ve heard lots of times “he’s gone” as “he is gone” but I don’t know why it couldn’t be” he has gone”

Thanks

[Dippit]

Hi Mohammad,
I suspect that it's 'he has gone' because you're referring to the past. To use 'is' you would have to refer to a present state - 'he is not here'.
Hope that helps,
Dippit

[Hayseed]

Hey mohammad, I`m not a teacher but am a native speaker. May I give it a try?

First, a native speaker would likely use contractions. "He is" = "He`s". That is a valid contraction. As for "HE has" = "He`s", I`m unsure about. However, a native speaker would contract either without thinking, unless they were using very formal speech. Examples:

Guy 1- "Where`s mohammad?"
Guy 2- "I don`t know, he`s gone."
This uses the contraction of "he is". No indication is given or implied as to where mohammad has gone or if he is ever coming back.

You would be more likely to hear this rather than "he has gone".
Guy 1- "Where`s mohammad?'"
Guy 2- "He went to the store."
"He has gone" could be substituted for "went", but is clumsy and awkward in my opinion. It`s too formal to my ears, although it`s very possible you could hear a Brit say that. I`m an American, and we tend to speak less formally than Brits in many cases. I`d be curious to know from whom you heard "he has gone".

Hopefully I`ve helped, and hopefully I don`t get scolded by a teacher!

[Dippit]

Hi to both Mohammad and Hayseed,
Although I'm posted as being from Spain I am a native speaker (Scottish) and , unfortunately it would seem, a teacher to boot!
You're quite right to say 'he's gone' is a contraction, but since it's the past tense we would use 'he has gone' in the contracted form. To use the present form of 'to be' would (possibly) be 'he is not here, he's left (he has)'. The last sentence needs some form of the past to suggest the present state.
You're also quite correct to suggest that this is informal. There are many other words/contructions that could be used in more formal situations.
Thanks for your help, Hayseed, especially in pointing out that there are MANY differences between British English and American English (not leat the spelling!).
Dippit

[mohammad]

Hi guys

Wow, it was cool thanks to both of you
Now I want to know if “he is gone” is passive voice, if so how can you change it to active voice? If no what’s it?

Thanks

[Casiopea]

What about?

He's gone
[1] He is gone. (He is no longer here; i.e., dead or not in the room)
[2] He has gone. (He has (recently) just left)

[Hayseed]

Hi Mohammad,
I suspect that it's 'he has gone' because you're referring to the past. To use 'is' you would have to refer to a present state - 'he is not here'.
Hope that helps,
Dippit

Thanks Dippit, now I`M confused.
"He has gone" is past tense like you said. But try this:
Guy 1- "Where`s mohammad?"
Guy 2- "I don`t know, he is gone."
But, is this wrong?
This would suggest that mohammad is gone, possibly dead, and NEVER coming back (basically what Casiopea said). Replacing "is" with "has" should suggest that mohammad has gone somewhere; to the store, carwash, or maybe home, but most likely will be back eventually.

To my ears, either one ("has" or "is") could be used. However, that doesn`t necessarily make it "correct". My brains tell me that the contraction I`m using is for "he is", not "he has", regardless of tense. Also, you`d probably agree that a native speaker wouldn`t give any thought whatsoever to which contraction was being used, the sentence would be understood no matter what. This is where I too would defer to a teacher.

BTW Dippit, thanks to you & Casiopea for not reprimanding me!! :agrue:

[Dippit]

Hi Hayseed,
You're quite right to say that a native speaker wouldn't have to think about what to say - sorry.
In a classroom I wouldn't be too keen on the use of 'he is gone' - there are other ways to say it (he has left/he is dead/he is not here/he went home - something a bit more precise), although in conversation between friends it's perfectly natural.
I guess I have a bit of a problem with 'gone' - it just isn't precise enough.
Sorry for any confusion. You know what it's like with English - sometimes there isn't a straightforward explanation, and sometimes things just sound wrong.
Dippit

[Hayseed]

Hey Dippit, no need to apologize, I was just being sarcastic! (although I still got confused)