Grammar: Dinosaurs "went" extinct OR "became" extinct?

Hi,

'The verb 'go' has a lot of meanings. One of them is 'pass into a specified condition'. eg

The milk went bad.

He went asleep.

She went crazy.

Dinsosaurs went extinct.



You can also say 'became', although 'go' is sometimes idiomatic depending on the context.



Clive

Logically speaking, "Become" means to take form into the future which is the oppoiste of "went extinct". If you said "became extinct", it then has the equal meaning as "went extinct"

dimsumexpressLogically speaking, "Become" means to take form into the future which is the oppoiste of "went extinct". If you said "became extinct", it then has the equal meaning as "went extinct"

"Become" is also the past participle of the verb, not to mention the base form, and as such, may participate in various tenses.
The dinosaurs have become ext

CliveThe milk went bad.
He went asleep.

She went crazy.

Dinsosaurs went extinct. Hi, Clive,
I wonder if there are regional differences here. "He went a

AvangiI wonder if there are regional differences here.

Or personal ones. went asleep doesn't sound natural to me either, but went extinct does. Go figure.

CJ

AnonymousTV Science programme tells me that "Dinosaurs WENT extinct". Did they not "BECOME" extinct?

Clarification??

Logically speaking, "Become" means to take form into the future which is the oppoiste of "went extinct". If you said "became extinct", it then has the equal meaning as "went extinc

To "go" extinct sounds very wrong; it grates on the ears. "become" extinct sounds so much better.
You go supersonic. go native ,,, things that can change back, perhaps. Also there is a sense of intention, of choice; You can go all limp, but can you go dead!

"To become extinct" is correct. "Extinct" is a latinized past participle of the verb "To extinguish". Usually we use the form "extinguished" as the past participle, but for some reason, when speaking about species, it became common to use the alternative form "extinct". Just as it is correct to say, "To become extinguished" it is correct to say "To become extinct". Just as it a barbarism to sa

AnonymousNot having continued in the field, I was appalled years later to hear scientists use the phrase, "To go extinct." Perhaps the mistake can be attributed to "extinct" being thought to be an adjective rather than the past participle it is.

ex·tinct, adj.

Isn't extinct the state of being extinguished? I would never say 'to become extinguished' because it would be submerging the verb 'extinguish' and it is passive and lacks a subject which makes it hard to understand. It might be grammatical but it's not good writing. But if extinct is a state then we need a verb to explain how to get to that state. I'm not convinced there is a rule here but I'd