Meaning & use
go yellow
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Meanings
phraseintransitive
to become yellow in color, especially gradually or naturally.
Grammar: No object; the subject is the thing that changes color: The leaves go yellow in fall.
Patterns
- something goes yellow
- go yellow with something
The leaves go yellow and red every October.
Old newspapers go yellow if you leave them in the sun.
His fingers had gone yellow from years of smoking.
phraseintransitiveinformal
to turn yellow because of illness, fear, or damage, especially the skin or eyes.
Grammar: No object; often used about skin, eyes, or nails, sometimes followed by with: go yellow with jaundice.
Patterns
- someone's skin goes yellow
- go yellow with something
Her eyes went yellow, so the doctor tested her liver.
The patient's skin had gone yellow with jaundice.
Common combinations
- go yellow in the fall
- The maples go yellow in the fall before the first frost.
- go yellow with age
- The pages of the book had gone yellow with age.
- turn yellow
- The banana will turn yellow in a few days.
- go brown
- The leaves go brown after they go yellow.
Synonyms and how they differ
- turn yellow
- Almost the same, but 'turn yellow' is more common in writing and sounds slightly more neutral.
- yellow
- As a verb, 'yellow' means the same, but it is much rarer and sounds literary.
Word family
Commonly confused: go yellow or yellow?
go yellow vs yellow
'Yellow' alone describes a color; 'go yellow' describes the process of becoming that color.
Practice
The leaves ___ yellow every autumn.
Choose one answer.
The plural subject 'leaves' takes the base form 'go' in the simple present. 'Goes' is singular, and 'going' and 'gone' cannot stand alone as the main verb here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “go yellow”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.