Be gone or begone?
be gone is an interjection meaning “Alternative form of begone”; begone is a verb meaning “past participle of bego”. be gone is written as two words and begone as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between be gone and begone?
| be gone | begone | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | interjection | interjection, verb |
| Meaning | Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see be, gone | |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /biːˈɡɒn/ /bɪˈɡɒn/ /bəˈɡɒn/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 4 million words |
Sources: be gone and begone in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of be gone and begone
be gone
- 1
Alternative form of begone
- 2
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see be, gone
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, be gone or begone?
be gone is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; begone about once in every 4 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).