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Vincent Teo

#384834 Wed, 27 Jun 07 12:15 PM

(a) Everythings are sold out.

All the food was / were sold out.

All the food and drinks were / was sold out.

The food and drinks were / was finished selling.

Vincent Teo

Joined on Sat, Mar 31 2007

Senior Member (3,758)

Mister Micawber

#384848 Wed, 27 Jun 07 12:32 PM

These are OK:

(a) Everything is sold out.

All the food was sold out.

All the food and drinks were sold out.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (20,401)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Peaceblinkfriend

#384853 Wed, 27 Jun 07 12:38 PM

Hi Mister Micawber,

Shouldn't it be 'everything was sold out' instead of 'everything is sold out'? I mean 'sold out' already means that something has been sold out. It has been sold out in the past.

Thank you.

Best wishes,

PBF

Peaceblinkfriend

Joined on Wed, May 9 2007

Australia

Contributing Member (1,486)

Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. But I finally realised that it is really impossible if you don't put your money where your mouth is.

Marius Hancu

#384855 Wed, 27 Jun 07 12:39 PM

No.

Is is about the state now, being sold out now.

But you could say, IMO:

This stuff sold out yesterday, so it's sold out now.

Marius Hancu

Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006

Montreal, Canada

Veteran Member (11,673)

Peaceblinkfriend

#384881 Wed, 27 Jun 07 01:21 PM

Ah, I think I know what the difference is now. Thank you, Marius Hancu.

So, 'The books were sold out yesterday' has the same meaning as 'The books are sold out now'. Am I right?
Also, I wonder if I could say 'The books are sold out today'.

Thank you again.

Best wishes,

PBF

Peaceblinkfriend

Grammar Geek

#384908 Wed, 27 Jun 07 02:10 PM

You can use either was or is, but the example in the original post was in the present.

Everything is sold out. We can go home now.

More people came to the fair yesterday than we expected. Everything was sold out. I've ordered twice as many supplies for today.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (15,288)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Peaceblinkfriend

#384919 Wed, 27 Jun 07 02:34 PM

Thank you for replying to my post, Grammar Geek.

Sorry but I still don't completely get it. I mean in your sentence 'Everthing is sold out. We can go home now', 'is sold out' is describing the state of the 'everything' while 'Everything was sold out yesterday' is describing the action of the goods being sold out, right?

Thank you again.

Best wishes,

PBF