was already gone to work

[ostap77]

If somebody asked me whether I was still at home when something happened, would it be OK to say "I was already gone to work."? Should it be "I had been already gone to work."?

 

[bhaisahab]

If somebody asked me whether I was still at home when something happened, would it be OK to say "I was already gone to work."? Should it be "I had been already gone to work."?

"I had already gone..." no "been".

 

[ostap77]

"I had already gone..." no "been".

Was already gone would be ungrammatical?

 

[Rover_KE]

Was already done would be ungrammatical?

If you mean '. . .was already gone. . .' yes, it's ungrammatical.

Rover

 

[Barb_D]

"was already done" is possibe, in my opinion, in a sentence like this:

I went to the church early yesterday to set up the chairs, but when I got there, I saw it [the setting up of the chairs] was already done.

I personally would use the past perfect here: I saw it had already been done. However, I'm not convinced that the simple past is incorrect and I'm quite certain it's used.

It's not possible in your example sentence, however.

 

[Barb_D]

Oh - I took the question literally, not as a typo!

 

[Barb_D]

If you mean '. . .was already gone. . .' yes, it's ungrammatical.

Rover

Just so people don't come back later when they see that sequence of words in other situations:
I completley agree that it's ungrammatical in that sentence, but it's possible in other constructions. I went to tell Mary the good news -- she had been cleared of the crime and no longer had to hide from the police -- but when I got there, she was already gone.

 

[ostap77]

"was already done" is possibe, in my opinion, in a sentence like this:

I went to the church early yesterday to set up the chairs, but when I got there, I saw it [the setting up of the chairs] was already done.

I personally would use the past perfect here: I saw it had already been done. However, I'm not convinced that the simple past is incorrect and I'm quite certain it's used.

It's not possible in your example sentence, however.

If someone asked me where John was, could I say "He is gone to work."?
If someone came by my place and I had already gone "I was already gone to work?

The reason I brought it up, is that I was watching this movie "Justified" about the US marshals department in Lexington, Kentucky and one of them said it.

 

[Barb_D]

If someone asked me where John was, could I say "He is gone to work."?
If someone came by my place and I had already gone "I was already gone to work?

The reason I brought it up, is that I was watching this movie "Justified" about the US marshals department in Lexington, Kentucky and of them said it.

That would be non-standard usage.

I had already gone to work.
I had already left to go to work.
I was gone -- I had already left for work.
There are no doubt other ways to say this grammatically. That character did not use one of them.

 

[bhaisahab]

If someone asked me where John was, could I say "He is gone to work."? You could say it, but it would be poor English. "He has gone..."
If someone came by my place and I had already gone "I was already gone to work? No, you had already gone...

The reason I brought it up, is that I was watching this movie "Justified" about the US marshals department in Lexington, Kentucky and of them said it.

Ostap, in many of your previous threads, I, and several others have pointed out to you that a lot of native speakers speak poor English, at least some of the time. (This also applies to speakers of other languages when speaking their native language). Also, we have told you that TV series, films and popular songs often contain poor English.

 

[Rover_KE]

Ostap, note that he's can be he is or he has.

'How old is John?' 'He's 30.'

'Is he here?' 'No - he's gone to work.'

So if you hear 'He's gone to work' it doesn't mean 'He is gone to work.'

Rover