Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-request><phrase-request>
Title: How do native speakers say 'the light bulb has stopped working'
Question: Lets say, I want to tell my roommate that one of the lightbulbs has stopped working, I usually say    The light bulb is  gone  or  broken down .   I did some search related to these expression and it seems that they are not very common and will sound odd to the natives.

Answers:
sents: text: In the U.S., at least, it's not uncommon to hear: The light bulb is burned out .
text: The expression can be found in writing sometimes, too.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/113/J.R.
score: 34
sents: text: I'm also in the U.S., and I agree with J.R.'s answer, but I also find myself saying:
text: The [light] bulb went out.
text: "Went out" is more general, so you can say "the lights went out" during a power outage even if the bulbs are still fine, but if I say a bulb went out, it usually means I need to replace that particular bulb.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/230/snailplane
score: 19
sents: text: I'm in the UK and the most common expression I hear (and use) is that "the bulb has blown".
text: I'm not sure why we say this, when it doesn't really blow, it just burns out, but it seems pretty common around here (NW England).
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/962/Danny Tuppeny
score: 16
sents: text: As a native speaker of British English, I'd say
text: The bulb's gone .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/217/Barrie England
score: 10
sents: text: I am 42 years old and from the east of England.
text: I would say the light bulb has "fused".
text: I learned English from people born before the 2nd world war in general.
text: People used to say "fused" because of the similar mode of failure.
text: A old fashioned light bulb and a fuse share a lot on common.
text: Both have a fine wire encased in a sheath.
text: Both fail in a similar way.
text: The wire breaks inside.
text: Hence fused.
text: Sometimes light bulbs do shatter when they fail.
text: In that case it would be more appropriate to say the bulb has blown.
text: When light bulbs shatter as the failure mode then there has probably been a power surge.
text: If you are interested I can tell you more about tungsten light bulbs and old style wire fuses.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/30593/David May
score: 4
sents: text: I'm from the U.S. and have heard multiple ways used commonly.
text: If you are holding a light bulb that no longer works because the filament is broken you could say: This light bulb is burned out.
text: This light bulb is blown out.
text: This light bulb is dead.
text: If someone wants me to fix a light that won't turn on, they'd typically point at it and say: That light bulb burned out!
text: That light bulb has blown out!
text: That light bulb has died!
text: That light bulb went out!
text: Typically I am in a better mood if they say "Would you fix it, please?" afterward.
text: I've heard "...has burned out" and
text: "...died" with about the same frequency, but "...blew out" seems less common.
text: Also, "That light bulb went out!"
text: is common, but I've rarely heard it used to describe the broken state of the bulb, "This light bulb went out.
text: " makes sense to me, but "This light bulb is gone out." or some other similar construction for the present-tense would seem unusual to me.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/8824/RaisedInMinnesotaUSA
score: 3
sents: text: The bulb's (has) fused!
text: This is what I've always heard and used. '
text: blown' sounds strange and american.
text: I supose 'the bulb has gone/the bulb went'
text: needs some thought before being understood.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/49277/praestans
score: 2

Summary of the answers:
There are a number of expressions: This light bulb has burned out; This light bulb has blown out; This light bulb has died; This light bulb has fused; This light bulb went out; This light bulb is dead; and This light bulb has gone.
Burned out, blown/blown out, dead, fused, died, went out are all options.