Life goes on means that life continues after something bad has happened. People say it after a failure, a break-up or a loss, when you need to carry on living. The phrase is informal: it sounds natural in Speaking, but in an IELTS essay it would be too personal.
When would you say life goes on?
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but life goes on; life goes on + after/without + noun; life went on (in stories)
- I didn't get the job I wanted, but life goes on and there will be other interviews.
- After the storm, the shops reopened and life went on as normal.
What changed
First versionI lost my job last spring, but life goes further.
RevisionI lost my job last spring, but life goes on.
Further is about distance or something extra: walk further, further information. The idea of continuing is often expressed with on in English: go on, carry on. The correction replaces further with on.
Life goes on is about life in general: everything continues, whatever happens. Move on is about a person who has stopped being upset and started something new: A year after the break-up, she has moved on. When telling a story about the past, use the past tense: life went on.
Your turn
We were sad when our favourite café closed, but ___, and now we meet at a new place.
Show the answer
life goes on — The sentence needs the fixed phrase meaning “life continues”. It sounds like a general truth, so it is in the present simple: life goes on. Life is going on sounds like a description of a process happening right now, and the phrase is not used in that form.
Write how you would support a friend after a setback. Say what happened, use life goes on and give one piece of advice about what to do next.
I know you're upset about failing the exam, but life goes on, so let's make a study plan for the retake.
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