[Grammar] I am gone !!

[Sir Shakespeare]

Hullo !

What do these old sentences mean exactly ?? Is this structure still used nowadays ?? And what's the alternative structure for these sentences ??

I am gone !!

The hour is come !!

 

[SoothingDave]

Not a teacher.

"I am gone" means "I am leaving."

"The hour has come" means "the time is now" for whatever is to happen.

"My wife called, she's on her way to the hospital. The hour has come for the baby's delivery."

 

[birdeen's call]

The hour is come !!

Your question has been answered. I'll add that this structure, now obsolete in English, is still present in some European languages, like German (I believe it would be "die Uhr ist gekommen", but I'm not sure...)

 

[TheParser]

Hullo !

What do these old sentences mean exactly ?? Is this structure still used nowadays ?? And what's the alternative structure for these sentences ??

I am gone !!

The hour is come !!

********** NOT A TEACHER **********

Hello.

(1) I think that I may have an answer.

(2) Hundreds of years ago, the English people used be + past

participle in order to express the present perfect with

certain verbs.

(3) Later, the English people started to use have instead of be.

(4) Today we use this "old" English sometimes in poetry.

(a) Our President Lincoln used this beautiful old English in one

of his famous speeches when he said: We are met on a great ....

(5) Professor George O. Curme in his A Grammar of the English Language

gives these examples:

The tree is fallen. = has fallen.
The melancholy days are come. = have come.
Our friend is departed.= has departed.
The birds were flown. = had flown.
I am arrived. = have arrived

This one is very special:

...they say is kill'd [killed] tonight. = has been killed.

Why is it special?

Because you (Shakespeare) wrote these words in one of

your plays!!!

THANK YOU

 

[emsr2d2]

"I am gone", albeit in its contracted form "I'm gone" is still in use (in modern BrE at least) to mean, as your first responder said "I'm leaving".

You're at a party and decide that it's time to leave. You might say to your host "Right. It's been lovely but - I'm gone!" or with an AmE import "I'm out of here!"

 

[~Mav~]

*** NOT A TEACHER ***

"I am gone", albeit in its contracted form "I'm gone" is still in use (in modern BrE at least) to mean, as your first responder said "I'm leaving".

I would have assumed that if somebody is gone, s/he would no longer be there. (Or s/he's dead, but this is another meaning of 'gone'.) It's a bit surprising to a non-native speaker that it means 'I'm leaving'. Though I can think of it in a funny way, like "I'm sooo (sic!;-) ) leaving that I'm already not here; I'm gone.":-D Is it idiomatic, by the way?

(1) I think that I may have an answer.

(2) Hundreds of years ago, the English people used be + past

participle in order to express the present perfect with

certain verbs.

(3) Later, the English people started to use have instead of be.

Interesting! I thought it was a sort of passive form. (I.e. somebody is gone = s/he is in the state of not being here. Who knows? Maybe this was the original idea behind this structure.:-D ) Anyway, thank you very much for your enlightening post.:up:




PS:

(2) Hundreds of years ago, the English people used be + past participle in order to express the present perfect with certain verbs.

Now that I think of it, something similar still exists in German; certain verbs (basically the ones that have something to do with change of location, but I don't want to say bullcrap) take the inflected forms of the auxiliary verb 'sein' (be) instead of the auxiliary verb 'haben' (have). "I have gone" = "Ich bin gegangen", assuming that one uses 'Perfekt' instead of "Präteritum".

 

[emsr2d2]

*** NOT A TEACHER ***

I would have assumed that if somebody is gone, s/he would no longer be there. (Or s/he's dead, but this is another meaning of 'gone'.) It's a bit surprising to a non-native speaker that it means 'I'm leaving'. Though I can think of it in a funny way, like "I'm sooo (sic!;-) ) leaving that I'm already not here; I'm gone.":-D Is it idiomatic, by the way?

It's entirely logical that "I'm gone" ought to mean "I've already left" but no-one ever claimed that idiomatic/colloquial English is logical.

An addition to "I'm gone" and "I'm outta here" is the (actually more common in BrE) phrase "I'm off".

 

[~Mav~]

It's entirely logical that "I'm gone" ought to mean "I've already left"...

I take that "I'm gone" means "I'm leaving" when you are actually leaving while/after saying this (idiomatically), otherwise it means "I'm no longer here". Am I correct with this interpretation?


PS:
I know your opinion about lyrics :-D , but I immediately thought of "Spicks And Specks" by The Bee Gees:

Where is the girl I loved all along?
The girl that I loved, she is gone, she is gone...

(Should it read "she's been gone"? :-? )

 

[SoothingDave]

The Eagles sang a song called "Already Gone," with the lyric "I'm already gone..."

It can be a state of mind rather than a statement about physical location. Like the last day at work before a holiday/vacation. You might be physically present, but mentally you are "gone."

 

[Sir Shakespeare]

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I am deeply grateful for all your help you provided me with​

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