Go is an intransitive verb, we can't make a passive sentence from it. But we can say:
Yesterday is gone.
If this isn't the passive voice, what kind of sentence is this? What is its grammatical structure?
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@sumelic so what king of sentence is it?– hh bbbAug 1, 2017 at 4:55
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You may find the answer to The grammar of “He is gone” helpful. (I would ignore the supposed "duplicate"--it isn't, really). Another related question: “She is gone” versus “she has gone”. People seem to analyze it as either "to be" + a predicative adjective, or a perfect construction, or somewhere in between.– herissonAug 1, 2017 at 4:59
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Closely related:Is “He is risen” Correct?– Mari-Lou AAug 1, 2017 at 5:34
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See this comment, which should have been posted as an answer, it explains the use of the auxiliary "be" with intransitive verbs. In Italian, for example, the auxiliary "essere" (be) is also used to compose sentences in the present perfect.– Mari-Lou AAug 1, 2017 at 5:38
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1 Answer
"Gone" is the past participle of go, but it functions in this sentence as an adjective (Past participles are formed from verbs. (Past participles just like present participles can be used as adjectives or used to form verb tenses.) "Is" functions as a linking verb and links the subject "Yesterday" with "gone." "Gone" as an adjective "complements" the subject. (The word, phrase, or clause which follows a linking verb to re-identify or describe the subject is called the subject complement.
In terms of sentence type, it's a simple declarative sentence. (A declarative sentence (also known as a statement) makes a statement and ends with a period. It's named appropriately because it declares or states something. These guys don't ask questions, make commands, or make statements with emotion.)
