Have gone to/ have been to/ have been in

John: I’ve always dreamt of going to Europe. Now, thanks to the Internet I’ve made friends with many teens all over the world. Oh, look! The travel agency! Let’s come in to find out about the tours for next holidays.

Travel agent: Good afternoon. May I help you?

John: Could you give me some information about the terms and prices of the tours to Europe, please?

Travel agent: With pleasure. Have you ever been to any European country?

John: You know, I’ve been in Spain once. And now I’d like to go on a tour to explore Europe.

Travel agent: I’m sorry for interrupting you, but we don’t say “I’ve been in Spain once”. It’s not correct.

John: Really? And what is the mistake?

These two words — been and gone — cause a lot of problems for some English learners. In this lesson you’ll learn the difference between have gone to/have been to/have been in and how to use them correctly.

Travel agent: Look here… I’ve got a brochure for tourists which can help you to speak about your traveller’s experience with no mistakes.

We’ve got three similar word combinations: have/has gone to, have/has been to, have/has been in. It seems that they are translated as synonyms. But it’s not like that.

John: But look:

They are very similar.

Travel agent: You are not quite right. Look:

Dora has gone to Australia.

The word combination has gone to means that Dora is still there or on her way to Australia. Дора отправилась в Австралию.

Pay attention to the following example:

Dora has been to Australia.

What’s the difference between these sentences?

Dora has gone to Australia. And: Dora has been to Australia. Here we use the verb be: has been to. And this word combination means that Dora has visited Australia and she’s back now. Дора побывала/была в Австралии.

We use this expression to talk about our visits or past experiences.

And this is the word combination that you had to use to speak about going to Spain.

You should have said: “I’ve been to Spain” and not “I’ve been in Spain”.

By the way, what does have/has been in mean?

Travel agent: Look:

Dora has been in Australia for 3 years. Дора находится в Австралии уже 3 года. Она все ещё там.

have/has been in means that she is still there now. – все ещё быть/находиться в

 каком-либо месте.

John: Thank you very much! I’ve never heard of this difference.

Travel agent: You can take this brochure with you.

See you, John

And now it is time to practice the rule.

But to do the task correctly, first we’ll have to revise the difference between these phrases: …

Have/has gone to means that the person is there or on his way to the place.

Have/has been to means that the person has visited the place but he’s back now.

We use this expression to describe our past visits to different places.

Have/has been in means that the person is still there.

Use the correct word combination to complete the text: have/has been to, have/has gone to, have/has been in.

Where is Bill? I haven’t seen him for hours.

He ______________the airport to meet his colleagues from France.

France? Did you know that France is the most visited by tourists’ country in the world? I ______________Paris only once but I fell in love with its people and …shops!

And how long ______________ you ____________ Paris?

About a week. We had a month tour round Europe.

I ____________ never ________________ France. It’s always been my dream.

He has gone to the airport to meet his colleagues from France.

It means that he hasn’t come back yet. So we need have/has gone to. And so as Bill is 3^rdperson singular, we use has gone to.

He has gone to the airport to meet his colleagues from France.

The next point: I have been to Paris only once but I fell in love with its people and …shops!

This sentence means that he’s visited Paris but now he’s back. So, we use have been to. And so as I is the 1^st person singular, we use have gone to.

I have been to Paris.

And how long have you been in Paris? e.i. How long did you stay there?

And the last point: I have never been to France.

It means that he speaks about his visits, his experiences. So, we use have/has never been to. And the subject is I, so we use have never been to.

Well, that’s all for today.

I hope the lesson was useful and informative to you.

Practise your grammar skills because practice makes perfect.