Something gone mad

Question

I have recently known I can use the structure "something gone mad." - Here "gone mad" modifies "something."
So I'd like to know whether I can use the following sentences.

1. There is a well run dry.
2. There is a dish gone bad.
3. Now we live in the environment become worse.

Thank you in advance for your help.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

park sang joonI have recently ~~known~~ learned I can use the structure "something gone mad." - Here "gone mad" modifies "something."So I'd like to know whether I can use the following sentences.1. There is a well run dry.2. There is a dish gone bad.3. Now we live in the environment become worse.

I see your intrepid penchant for applying formulas is still alive and kicking.

As it turns out, 1 is a little unusual, but not bad, 2 is OK if it refers to the food rather than the plate, and 3 doesn't work.

CJ

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr.Jim for your answer.

Then, I'd like to know whether or not the following deductions are right.
1. I can use "something + gone + an adjective."
2. I could use "something + run + an adjective," but I could as well not.
3. I can't use "something + become + an adjective."

CalifJim · Answer

park sang joonI'd like to know whether or not the following deductions are right.

No. You can't deduce rules of English grammar using this model, namely:

I saw "something gone mad" written in a book, so I know it is correct.
I can name the parts of this phrase to obtain a formula: "something + PastPart. + Adjective.
Now I can use this pattern with any combination suggested by PastPart and Adjective to form phrases like

something taken happy
something lost sincere
something seen interesting
something thrown friendly
something broken helpful

and they must all be correct because they all follow the formula I extracted from an example that I found in a book.

(In fact, those are all wrong in the sense that they are meaningless.)
________

That said, something + gone + adjective can work with the right adjective; something + run + adjective can work with the right adjective; something + become + adjective, as far as I am able to think of examples, will never work at all.

Unfortunately, there is no rule by which you can predict the "right" adjective, and there are far, far fewer of them that are correct compared to the hundreds of thousands that can be invented. Such unusual constructions occur with such low frequency in the language that they have almost the status of idioms, and as you know, an idiom is a one-of-a-kind phrase.

CJ

Something gone mad

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions