[Grammar] 'gone to' or 'been to'?

[Allen165]

"gone to" and "been to". Here is a good way to know when to use the correct one. If you are asking a question and you want to know if at any point in time, someone has traveled to a particular place, use "been to". Have you ever been to Phuket? Have you been to the zoo? etc. Use "gone to" for responses. "gone to" means that a person is there now and has not returned. Here are some examples. Where's Joe? He's gone to the restroom. That means he is there now and has not returned. I haven't seen Gina in a few days, where is she? She's gone to Hawaii. That means she is there now and hasn't returned. But I will be honest, I've heard a lot of native speakers ask a question in the form of "have you gone to?". I will know what you mean if you ask it that way but "been to" is what you should use when asking questions.

Ok, but if you add "ever," the point you made about the person not having returned yet seems irrelevant. No?

 

[bhaisahab]

Ok, but if you add "ever," the point you made about the person not having returned yet seems irrelevant. No?

"Have you ever gone somewhere" is incorrect, at least, in BrE.

 

[kfredson]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Heidi.

(1) This "been/gone to" matter has also confused me a lot.

(2) While searching the Web, I found a good answer at this

website.

(3) Just go to the search box and type in " re: been vs. gone."

The first thread (from November 3, 2004) is most helpful.

***** Thank you for your question *****

Thank you very much for this. In AmE it is very common to say "Have you ever gone..." Is it one more case of the debasement of the language? I've been scratching my head over this and was glad to get the above reference.

"Have you ever gone to India?" This would, in my mind, emphasize the travel aspect. "Why, yes, I have gone there two times, in fact."

I believe that is somewhat in line with what is being said in the reference you suggest.

I look forward to other thoughts on this thorny issue.

 

[bhaisahab]

Thank you very much for this. In AmE it is very common to say "Have you ever gone..." Is it one more case of the debasement of the language? I've been scratching my head over this and was glad to get the above reference.

"Have you ever gone to India?" This would, in my mind, emphasize the travel aspect. "Why, yes, I have gone there two times, in fact."

I believe that is somewhat in line with what is being said in the reference you suggest.

I look forward to other thoughts on this thorny issue.

In BrE we don't use "gone" like that in the first person because it's illogical to say "I have gone...", if you have gone, you are not there to say it.

 

[bertietheblue]

if you have gone, you are not there to say it.

That only applies if the conversation is face to face. On the mobile ;-):

- Where are you?
- I've gone to the supermarket to get some dinner.

 

[crazYgeeK]

In BrE we don't use "gone" like that in the first person because it's illogical to say "I have gone...", if you have gone, you are not there to say it.

If the second person was standing next to me and I want to say something about him/her to the third person who was also standing next to me , I couldn't say "He/She (the second person) have/has gone to ..".
I mean in this case, we can't use "gone" for both the first person and the second person.
Is that correct?
Thank you !

 

[joemayerich]

Yes, adding the word ever does make it irrelevant. Ever is for life experiences that are not automatic or normal. So if I ask "have you ever gone to the zoo" that is correct. I can also ask, "have you ever gone fishing?" "have you ever gone skydiving?" etc. not "have you gone fishing" or "have you gone skydiving" I should clarify that you should use "been to" when asking questions without "ever". "Have you been to the zoo?" not "Have you gone to the zoo?" I was generally answering the difference between "gone to" and "been to" without the word ever.

 

[crazYgeeK]

If you are being in the place A and say to a friend of yours by phone : "I have gone to A for 2 days".
So, what is illogical here ?
What do you think if I understand the above sentence as that I started to go but I am still going after 2 days , I haven't finished the action "go to the place A". So this sentence is incorrect. And we must use "come to" or "been to" instead ?

If the above idea is wrong, I think you can use "gone to" when talking about other person in appropriate context, but you should use "been to" or "come to" instead when talking about yourself.


Please give me your comments.
Thank you !

 

[Harry Smith]

If you are being in the place A and say to a friend of yours by phone : "I have gone to A for 2 days".
So, what is illogical here ?
What do you think if I understand the above sentence as that I started to go but I am still going after 2 days , I haven't finished the action "go to the place A". So this sentence is incorrect. And we must use "come to" or "been to" instead ?

If the above idea is wrong, I think you can use "gone to" when talking about other person in appropriate context, but you should use "been to" or "come to" instead when talking about yourself.


Please give me your comments.
Thank you !

I completely share your opinion!:up::up::up:

 

[bhaisahab]

I completely share your opinion!:up::up::up:

Why would you say "I have gone to..."? It would be much more logical to say "I am in..." or "I have come to..."

 

[Heterological]

If you are being in the place A and say to a friend of yours by phone : "I have gone to A for 2 days".
So, what is illogical here ?

Generally, you "go" somewhere else. Wherever you are, you haven't "gone" there; you've "come" there (or you "are" there.) If you go someplace, you start at the present location and travel to another place. So wherever you are, from your perspective, you didn't "go" there, because "there" is "here."

However, you could be speaking in terms of the other person's perspective. If another person were talking about you to someone else, he or she would certainly say, "Person X has gone to..."

It sounds like a rule more closely followed in England than in the U.S., though.

 

[bertietheblue]

However, you could be speaking in terms of the other person's perspective.
.

And, as I commented, that's why in BrEng it would be perfectly natural to say to someone on the mobile when they ring, wondering where you are, "I've gone to ...", in the sense of away from the person you're talking to, eg "I've gone to the supermarket" (whether you are at the supermarket now or are on the way), or to write to a lover, "I've gone away for good and won't be coming back!" And, indeed, it would be possible to say "I've gone" if you are talking face to face with someone and are viewing events from a third person's perspective, eg talking to your sister: "I've left him! I've gone away for good and there's no way I'm going back."

 

[philo2009]

Dear teachers,

Is the question 'have you ever gone to the Taipei City Zoo' asking about the same thing as 'have you ever been to the Taipei City Zoo'?

Thank you!

ps. 'Taipei City Zoo' is a place in the city where I live

Yes. BrE speakers tend to use only 'been to', while AmE speakers use both.

 

[joemayerich]

Ok, but if you add "ever," the point you made about the person not having returned yet seems irrelevant. No?

If you are being in the place A and say to a friend of yours by phone : "I have gone to A for 2 days".
So, what is illogical here ?
What do you think if I understand the above sentence as that I started to go but I am still going after 2 days , I haven't finished the action "go to the place A". So this sentence is incorrect. And we must use "come to" or "been to" instead ?

If the above idea is wrong, I think you can use "gone to" when talking about other person in appropriate context, but you should use "been to" or "come to" instead when talking about yourself.


Please give me your comments.
Thank you !

If you are being in the place A and say to a friend of yours by phone : "I have gone to A for 2 days". So you are talking on the friend at the present time and you want to use the present perfect tense? We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time BEFORE now. The exact time is not important. Have gone is Present Perfect so you can't use that tense when talking to your friend and letting them know where you are at the present time.

 

[crazYgeeK]

Generally, you "go" somewhere else. Wherever you are, you haven't "gone" there; you've "come" there (or you "are" there.) If you go someplace, you start at the present location and travel to another place. So wherever you are, from your perspective, you didn't "go" there, because "there" is "here."

However, you could be speaking in terms of the other person's perspective. If another person were talking about you to someone else, he or she would certainly say, "Person X has gone to..."

It sounds like a rule more closely followed in England than in the U.S., though.

Suppose that my friend is in the place B where I left from. Can he ask me by phone: "How long have you gone to ...?" ? (I mean to him, I have "gone to" not "come to").
Although using "been to" sounds better to me in this case, but I think we can use "been to", "come to" or "gone to".

The difference here is the action "gone to" can last for a certain duration of time. And the two others start and finish at a same point of time. I think this is the reason we can't use "gone to" (as some ones posted).
Thank you !

 

[Heterological]

Suppose that my friend is in the place B where I left from. Can he ask me by phone: "How long have you gone to ...?" ? (I mean to him, I have "gone to" not "come to").
Although using "been to" sounds better to me in this case, but I think we can use "been to", "come to" or "gone to".

Actually, I don't think the construction you've written works for either "gone to" or "been to." What is the friend asking, exactly? Does he want to know when your trip began? If so, he should say, "how long ago did you go to...?" or "when did you go to...?" or "how long have you been in...?" Does he want to know how long your trip will last? In that case, he should say, "for how long are you going?" or, less elegantly, "how long are you going for?"

 

[crazYgeeK]

I meant my friend wants to know when my trip began.
If "been to" doesn't work so the "come to" doesn't work too, does it?
I still don't understand why "been to" doesn't work in my construction, although I think it is grammatically correct, isn't it? Or is it wrong semantically ?
I'm not sure how difficult for you to explain more so that I can understand well. Is this problem explainable ?
Thank you so much !

 

[SoothingDave]

See the problem when we've all gone etc. etc.