"Have been" and "have gone": How and When to Use in English
Quick and simple lesson to help you understand grammar better.
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"Have been" and "have gone"
Reminder: have been is the present perfect tense of to be, and have gone is the present perfect tense of to go.
Have been and have gone are often used with similar meanings:
I’ve been to Japan a few times = I’ve gone to Japan a few times
However, in some contexts, the meanings can be different. I have been refers to a completed journey (or journeys) in the past. I have gone can refer to a journey from which the speaker has not yet returned.
He has been to America. = He has visited America (and has already come back).
He has gone to America. = He is visiting America (and is still there).
He has gone to America. = He is visiting America (and is still there).
Exercise 1
In which of the following sentences can have/has gone replace have/has been without making the sentence grammatically incorrect? There may be more than one correct answer!
In which of the following sentences can have/has gone replace have/has been without making the sentence grammatically incorrect? There may be more than one correct answer!
In this sentence, "have been" refers to travelling. Therefore, we could replace it with "have gone" and the sentence would still be grammatically correct. Note that the meaning would change: "Bruno may have been to Malaysia" means "Bruno possibly went to Malaysia in the past"; "Bruno may have gone to Malaysia" implies that Bruno may currently be in Malaysia.
In this sentence, "has been" refers to Polly's absence, or her location. Therefore, we could replace it with "have gone" and the sentence would still be grammatically correct. Note that the meaning would change: "Polly has gone away for a few hours" means "Polly left recently and will not return for a few hours"; "Polly has been away for a few hours" means "Polly left a few hours ago and has not yet returned".
In this sentence, "he's been" does not refer to travelling or movement, but rather to someone's roles or jobs. If we replaced it with "he's gone", the sentence would become grammatically incorrect, because the verb "to go" cannot introduce a person's role or job.
In this sentence, "I've been" does not refer to travelling or movement, but rather to the speaker's condition or status. If we replaced it with "he's gone", the sentence would become grammatically incorrect, because the verb "to go" cannot introduce a person's condition or status.
Exercise 2
In which of the following sentences can have/has gone replace have/has been without making the sentence grammatically incorrect? There may be more than one correct answer!
In which of the following sentences can have/has gone replace have/has been without making the sentence grammatically incorrect? There may be more than one correct answer!
In this sentence, "I've been" refers to the speaker's location. Therefore, we could replace it with "I've gone" and the sentence would still be grammatically correct. Note that the meaning would change: "I've just been outside" means "I have recently returned from going outside"; "I've just gone outside" means "I exited the building recently and am currently outside".
In this sentence, "has been" does not refer to travelling or movement, but rather to Edward's role or job. If we replaced it with "has gone", the sentence would become grammatically incorrect, because the verb "to go" cannot introduce a person's role or job.
In this sentence, "has been" does not refer to travelling or movement. Rather, it introduces a description of the characteristics of a situation. If we replaced it with "has gone", the sentence would become grammatically incorrect, because the verb "to go" cannot introduce a description of a situation.
In this sentence, "have been" refers to travelling. Therefore, we could replace it with "have gone" and the sentence would still be grammatically correct. Both sentences would also have the same meaning. This is often the case when a time frame is specified, for example: "I've been/gone to France twice in the past year".
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