had been vs. had gone in the subjunctive mood

[yamadew]

Hello,

I have a question about these two sentences below:

(1) If you had gone to the party, you could have seen him.
(2) If you had been to the party, you could have seen him.

It usually says in grammar books that there is a difference in meaning between have gone and have been, but as far as I can research no books refer to the difference of gone and been in subjunctive mood.

I wonder if there is any difference in meaning between (1) and (2), or if either of these sentences is ungrammatical.

I would appreciate if anyone can answer this question.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello,

I have a question about these two sentences below:

(1) If you had gone to the party, you could have seen him.
(2) If you had been to the party, you could have seen him.

It usually says in grammar books that there is a difference in meaning between have gone and have been, but as far as I can research no books refer to the difference of gone and been in subjunctive mood.

I wonder if there is any difference in meaning between (1) and (2), or if either of these sentences is ungrammatical.

I would appreciate if anyone can answer this question.

I wouldn't use "had been" with "to" to talk about going to/attending an event like a party. I would say I "had been at the party". If I wanted to use "to" I would say "I went to..."

 

[yamadew]

I wouldn't use "had been" with "to" to talk about going to/attending an event like a party. I would say I "had been at the party". If I wanted to use "to" I would say "I went to..."

Thank you very much for posting.

Then, if I use "the station" instead of "the party", is there any change in grammaticality or meanig in (1) and (2)?

 

[Tdol]

I don't see that the meaning is going to be affected by the mood, so changing it to the station doesn't change things for me- the been/gone distinction is still there.

 

[yamadew]

I don't see that the meaning is going to be affected by the mood, so changing it to the station doesn't change things for me- the been/gone distinction is still there.

I understand from your reply that been/gone distinction is not affected by the mood. Thank you very much.