the use of have been to

[shikemoku]

If someone from another country come to your country, can I say "Have you been to (your country name) before?
For example, if I meet someone from another country, in Japan(my country), is it OK to say "Have you been to Japan before?"
Or should I say " Have you come to Japan before?"

I am looking forward to your replies.

Yoshio

 

[MikeNewYork]

If someone from another country come to your country, can I say "Have you been to (your country name) before?
For example, if I meet someone from another country, in Japan(my country), is it OK to say "Have you been to Japan before?"
Or should I say " Have you come to Japan before?"

I am looking forward to your replies.

Yoshio

Either "been" or "come" would be fine. I think "been" would be more common.

 

[Raymott]

"Come" sounds weird to me.

 

[EliseMartel]

If someone from another country come to your country, can I say "Have you been to (your country name) before?
For example, if I meet someone from another country, in Japan(my country), is it OK to say "Have you been to Japan before?"
Or should I say " Have you come to Japan before?"

I am looking forward to your replies.

Yoshio

I think the best way to answer this question is to think of how I would respond. I would say "No, I haven't been to Japan before." However, I would never say "no, I haven't come to Japan before." The second way is incorrect.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I think the best way to answer this question is to think of how I would respond. I would say "No, I haven't been to Japan before." However, I would never say "no, I haven't come to Japan before." The second way is incorrect.

Sorry, but it is not incorrect. People come to Japan or Norway, or the US, etc. all the time.

 

[EliseMartel]

I forgot to mention that I am not a teacher I'm an uber-newbie. The second way just sounded weird to me. Obviously, people come into the US or Japan from other countries. However, since coming denotes going toward the speaker, would it be appropriate to say "have you even come to Japan before" to someone in Japan vs. "have you ever been to Japan before" to someone in another country (such as randomly polling people at a city park)?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I forgot to mention that I am not a teacher I'm an uber-newbie. The second way just sounded weird to me. Obviously, people come into the US or Japan from other countries. However, since coming denotes going toward the speaker, would it be appropriate to say "have you even come to Japan before" to someone in Japan vs. "have you ever been to Japan before" to someone in another country (such as randomly polling people at a city park)?

Yes. Both are appropriate. There is more than one way to express a thought. You may have your favorite, but that that does not make other alternatives incorrect.

 

[5jj]

"Come" sounds weird to me.

It sounds strange to this speaker of BrE, too, as does the statement form. On my first visit to a place, I would say only "I've never been to X before", not "I've never come to X before".

I might, if I have visited the place before, and am thinking of the method of travel, say "I've never come to X by train before".

 

[shikemoku]

Thank you very much for replying to my post so quickly.
The reason why I asked that question is that the common translation of "have been to" is "have had an experience of going to a place" in Japanese.
After reading through what all of you wrote, I suppose "have come to" sounds unnatural in the sentence I gave.
Am I right?

 

[Rover_KE]

After reading through what all of you wrote, I suppose "have come to" sounds unnatural in the sentence I gave.
Am I right?

The only thing you can conclude from the above opinions is that it sounds unnatural to four native English speakers and natural to one.

 

[5jj]

As there are no citations for "Have you come to X?" as a simple question on its own in COCA, I would conclude that it sounds unnatural to most native speakers, in that there is no evidence in this large corpus of it ever being used.

 

[emsr2d2]

This is another vote for unnatural from this BrE speaker. In certain contexts, I would use "come" when talking about travel but I would not say or expect to hear "I have come to France six times before". I am about to use a word I rarely use - always. I would always say "I have been to France six times before". The same goes for the interrogative - "Have you been here/there before?", "Have you been to Ireland in the last six months?", "How many times have you been here?"