He is gone OR he has gone?

HI
I would like to know which is correct;
HE IS GONE or
HE HAS GONE

Present perfect is made with the verb TO BE or with the verb TO HAVE?
Please help.

(He IS fallen or he HAS fallen?)

Thanks

Joy to the world, the lord is come.

Let's settle this with the contraction:

"He's gone" and "he's fallen".

There, problem solved!

they're both right, depending on context.

> Joy to the world, the lord is come.

And that's about the only time an English speaker ever says "is come". ;) It's a very archaic expression.

To answer the original question: they are indeed both correct, depending on context. "He is gone" emphasizes the state/location of the person in question (that is, "he is not here"), whereas "he has gone" emphasizes the action ("he went"). Oddly enough, you can't do the same thing with "come" in Modern English. I don't know why.

If I expected to find somebody somewhere, and I know he was there a minute ago, but I get there and he isn't there anymore, I would say, "He is gone!" (Technically, I'd say "he's gone", but in this case the contraction would likely be understood to be "he is" and not "he has".) But if I ask where he went, they might reply, "He has gone to the store." (Again, "he's" would be more likely, but it would still be understood as "he has"). When "gone" is followed by a phrase such as "to the store", only "has" is possible, and "is" would be incorrect.

- Kef

IMHO,
HE IS GONE = He is not here now .
HE HAS GONE looks unfinished to me. He has gone to the optician's/somewhere else.

Kef,
Sorry, didn't see your post; it's taken me too long to send mine. But I am happy I am right.