been many places

[ostap77]

1) Is it accurate to drop "to" as in "I've been many places in Europe."?

2) "I gave my friend some pictures of the countries we've been to." Do I have to end the sentence with "to"? Could I just say "........of the countries we've been."?

 

[5jj]

1. No
2. 'To' is not essential, but I'd use it.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hmmm. This is unusual, but my answers are the opposite of 5jj's.

1. I would accept it with or without "to". I would tend to drop the "to".

2. The sentence without "to" is very odd for me. I consider it essential and would use it.

 

[Raymott]

You've changed 'places' to 'countries' in 2. You can go places, but you can't go countries.
My answers are: 1. No, you don't need 'to'. 2. Yes, 'to' is necessary.
If you used 'countries' in 1, and 'places' in 2, my answers would reverse, but you would still need 'to' with 'countries', but not with 'places'.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I agree that there is a difference between places and countries, but I can't articulate what that is.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

To "go places" is an idiom meaning to succeed in one's life/career and has nothing to do with travelling.

When "place" is used with the meaning of a real geographical location, city, country, etc., the "to" can be dropped but it would be informal.

 

[Raymott]

True, there's an idiom "to go places", but this isn't an example. Nor are sentences like "I'll take you places you've never been before" - which lacks two 'to's.
There are other words that can be used with 'go' without 'to' - anywhere, somewhere, "some place" ...
"Have you been anywhere in Europe", not "Have you been to anywhere in Europe."; "I want to go somewhere."
I'm not sure it's this lack of specificity that allows 'place' to be used without 'to'.