«I have been to France.» vs. «I have been in France.» [duplicate]

Ответьте на такой вопрос: могут ли правильные глаголы быть неправильными? Как раз об этом мы узнаем, когда прочтем следующий текст. А также мы продолжим изучение обстоятельств времени Present Perfect, с которыми мы начали знакомиться на предыдущих уроках. Помимо этого мы выясним have been to или in – от предлога зависит даже местоположение! Поэтому без предлогов говорить нельзя!

Текст. CAN REGULAR VERBS BE IRREGULAR? Бывают ли правильные глаголы неправильными?

Once there lived the main verb To Be. In his castle he had only true servants.

The verb To Abide abided only by the English language.

The verb To Learn learned only the conjugation of the main verb To Be: am, is, are – was, were – been. He was constantly repeating: am, is, are – was, were – been; am, is, are – was, were – been.

Well, the verb To Spell spelled only the conjugation of the main verb To Be: am, is, are – was, were – been.

The verb To Dream dreamed only about the conjugation of the main verb To Be: am, is, are – was, were – been.

And the verb To Leap leaped with joy when he saw the main verb To Be.

The verb To Hang hanged himself onto the main verb To Be and cried loudly and gladly: am, is, are – was, were – been; am, is, are – was, were – been!

The verb To Gild gilded the frames of pictures with the main verb To Be and signed them with gold words: am, is, are – was, were – been; am, is, are – was, were – been.

The verb To Light lighted these pictures with the lovely candles.

Regular verbs learn French at night.

The verb To Learn learnt the conjugation of the verb etre!

Oh, the verb To Spell spelt the conjugation of the verb etre: suis, sommes, es, etez, est, sont.

The verbs To Burn and To Light burnt the candles and lit the pictures of the verb etre that the verb To Gild had already gilt.

Lawks! The verb To Leap leapt before the pictures lit with flickering flame.

Oh, the verb To Dream dreamt about the verb etre and was snoring: suis, sommes, es, etez, est, sont.

Lawks! he verb To Abide with the other verbs abode by the French language! Oh, the verb To Be exclaimed: What’s the matter?

– The second language is not a bad idea, – the main verb To Be scolded them. – But now you are irregular verbs!

Словарик.

Have been to или in? Обстоятельства Present Perfect.

1. Recently – недавно, на днях (= lately). То есть эти обстоятельства являются синонимами.

He has helped me even hard recently. – На днях он мне очень даже помог.

They have gone in for her lessons recently. – Недавно они записались на её уроки.

Запоминаем не только сами обстоятельства. Но и местоположение в предложении! Если вы помните, порядок построения предложений в английском языке строгий.

2. For –  в течение которого времени происходит действие. Но часто этот предлог не переводится.

We have had a walk for an hour. – Мы прогулялись в течение часа.

She has thought twice about it for the whole morning. – Она обмозговывала это целое утро.

3. Since – с каких пор, с какого времени длится действие

I have bummed since yesterday evening. – Я бездельничаю со вчерашнего вечера.

She has pulled my legs since last year. – Она морочила мне мозги с прошлого года.

4. Ever –  когда-либо (то есть проведите аналогию и сравните с never – никогда)

Have you ever hiked as far as the middle of nowhere? – Ты когда-нибудь ходил пешком до чёрта на куличиках? (то есть буквально – до середины неизвестно где)

Has she ever put her foot into it? – Она когда-нибудь попадала впросак?

5. So far = up to now – до сих пор

I started learning English in my childhood and I have learned it so far. – Я начал учить английский в детстве и учу его до сих пор.

The verb “to be” existed in Russian till the 18th century. But it has been in other languages up to now. – Глагол «быть» существовал в русском языке до 18 века. Но он до сих пор существует в других языках.

6. Have been to or have been in?

We have been to the fairy-tales’ country for three hours. – Мы находились в стране сказок в течение трёх часов (но теперь нас там нет).

We have been in the fairy-tales’ country for three hours. – Мы находились в волшебной стране сказок в течение трёх часов (но всё ещё там находимся).

Потому в вопросе: Have you ever been to the Fools’ country? – мы будем употреблять только предлог to.

7. Is this morning over?

Английское утро заканчивается в 12 часов дня. Потому мы можем получить предложения в разных временах с обстоятельством this morning, this afternoon.

He has had butterflies in his stomach this morning. – Он нервничал (то есть дословно – имел бабочек в желудке) этим утром (разговор до 12 часов; следовательно, утро ещё не кончилось).

He had butterflies in his stomach this morning. – Он нервничал этим утром (разговор после 12 часов)

Кстати, обратите внимание на перевод: русскоговорящие про бабочек в желудке говорят, когда они влюблены!

8. Если указываем, в который раз происходило событие. То это только Perfect!

It is the first time he has been to the Zoo. – В зоопарке он был в первый раз.

Also, it is the third time I have explained it to you. – Я тебе объяснял это три раза.

It is the fourth time he has lost his copy-book. – Он потерял тетрадь уже четвёртый раз.

Упражнения на тему have been to или in.

Итак, разбираемся с временами английского языка – Present Simple and Past Simple and Future Simple and Длительное время continuous and Past Continuous and Present Perfect.

I. Make up the correct sentences. Choose the correct Tense:

1. Pinocchio / to put on his thinking cap / occasionally last year

2. Look! The absent-minded man / to try on a pan on his head

3. Koshchey-the-deathless / to take off (сбросить, похудеть) some kilos / recently

4. In a century Sleeping Beauty / to be dressed in rags (лохмотья)

5. The absent-minded man / to wear gloves on his feet / the other day

6. He / to have a pan on / since morning

7. Little Riding Hood and Robin Hood / to try on their hoods / for the whole last Sunday

8. You / ever / to put on a pan?

9. Before the ball Cinderella / to take off her crystal shoes and / to put on valenki. For the whole ball / she / to make herself a pig and / to use four-letters words (использовать нецензурную речь; дословно: использовать слова из четырёх букв)

Вспоминаем, как описывать картинки

What original question do we want to ask you? About the weather, of course! We relish speaking about the weather! What mood have you got in such weather? What does the weather-forecast promise? – Однако наша любимая тема для разговора – про погоду зимой или про погоду осенью или про погоду весной.

Ответы к упражнениям.

1. Put on 2. Is trying 3. Has taken off 4. Will be 5. Wore 6. Has had on 7. Was trying on 8. Have you ever put on 9. Took off, put on. Was making, was using 10. Has never put on. Has always been, has always sung

Заключение

-Have you ever been to Florida?
-Yes, I’ve been to Florida many times.

-Have you ever been in Florida?
-Yes, I’ve been in Florida many times.

asked Aug 8, 2012 at 18:17

Been to indicates that you are talking about trips or journeys specifically to Florida. To is a preposition of motion and you are talking about movement towards, and arrival in, Florida.

Been in connotes a stay in Florida (which may be short, or very long, or simply passing through). In denotes position, and you are talking about the state or condition of being located in Florida. It doesn’t matter whether you took a trip there or not.

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 18:34

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• «He has gone to Paris» means he’s there or on his way (to Paris).
• «He has been to Paris» means he’s visited Paris (but he’s back now).
• «He has been in Paris for two months» means he’s in Paris now (and has been for the past two months).

answered Sep 30, 2014 at 20:24

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The verb be has different meanings in the two examples. In the first example, be is used with the meaning to go (and leave). In the second, it is being used in its more basic sense of existence, or in this case, living in or staying in a location. The two examples can be reworded as:

Q: Have you ever visited Florida?

A: Yes, I’ve visited Florida many times.

Q: Have you ever lived in Florida?

A: Yes, I lived there for two years when I was a kid.

I believe that the use of many times in the OP’s second example is inconsistent.

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 18:33

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As a English student with Spanish as mother tongue, it was extremely difficult for me to cope with the idea of «be + to» because «to be» refers inevitably to a location, a place where I am in. On the other hand, verbs of motion like «to go», «to travel»; «to run» express direction and movement towards one direction and this is always expressed with «to». So, this mixed-form «been to + location» was an nightmare for me. My trick to learn it was considering that the verb «visit» as an elided verb. For example. Have you ever been (to visit) Australia?

answered Feb 5, 2019 at 18:17

Before this question is closed, I’d like to answer your question because it’s an easy one to explain and often asked by English language learners who often find themselves on this site. But yes, as per WS2’s comment, this is better suited for ELL.

Say: I am in France. (If you are actually in France)

Say: I am going to France.

Don’t say: I am going in France 🙁

Say: I have been to France.

Don’t say: I have been in France. (If you mean you visited France once)

Say: I have been in France. (If you mean you are still in France or still living in France)

This is confusing because we say:

Have you been in the new mall they just built?
(Meaning: Have you been inside the mall)

No, I haven’t been in there yet.

A lot of the confusion is because you can use in when you are actually inside a building or an area (like a stadium), but we use to when the place is a destination or a country. If you are being very literal, sometime we use in.

Have you ever been to France?

Sort of. I flew over it once.

Yes, but have you ever been in France?

We do say:

I am in France right now.

I have been in France since Tuesday.

But in the past we say:

I was in France last week.

I have been to France before.

I went to France last week.

EDIT: Changed the answer to reflect the comments below.

EDIT: Before people start reading me the riot act about my defense of not saying «have been in» a place, here’s my research: The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) has 5119 entries for «have been in». None of which I’ve found so far mean «visited». The grammar has always been an acceptable way to express that sb. was or still is or continuously is in some place or is literally inside a place/building/area. I did also check the British National Corpus (BNC) to see if this was a British/American difference. There are 1289 entries there and I’m about halfway through with no indication that «have been in» is used in the way the commenters below propose for «visit». This is what I’m basing my answer on.

That being said, the incidence according to Google NGrams points to the fact that «have been in» as a phrase is more widely used in literature than «have been to» (Google NGrams). Here’s a Q&A from pearsonlongman.com that indicates it’s a contextual difference, which I’ve stated all along.

Perhaps my aversion is simply due to my particular brand of English, so if there are other resources, please post. As with many of these questions, it’s a prescriptive versus descriptive approach to grammar. In my opinion, if you say it and people understand you, it’s usable.

I understand the difference between these constructions: «has gone to», «has been to», «has been in»:

• «has gone to» — there or on his way to;
• «has been to» — someone has been there but he is on his way back;
• «has been in» — someone is still there;

But now I am puzzled by next statements:

• Have you ever been to / in Greece? — Yes, it’s a very beautiful country;
• When did you last go to Canada? — I’ve never been to Canada.

If I use «has you ever gone to Greece» construction in the first case or «I have never gone to Canada» in the second statement will it be uncorrect? Or just will sound odd? May I say «I have never been in Canada» in the second sentence. Or in these case all of the variants are possible, the problem is in how people usually say it (in what how it perfectly sounds)?

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asked Jan 16, 2017 at 23:15

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Your understanding of the three phrases is not quite correct:

• has gone to — there or on his way to;
• has been to — someone has been there but he is on his way back; OR someone has been there at some point in the past and is now elsewhere
• has been in — someone is still there; someone has gone there at some point in the past and is still there

So these statements:

• Have you ever been to / in Greece? — Yes, it’s a very beautiful country;
• When did you last go to Canada? — I’ve never been to Canada.

You could say HAVE you ever gone to Greece and it would be correct

I have never gone to Canada is also correct I have never been in Canada, while it would be understood, might sound odd to some. In this sentence I have never been TO Canada, would be correct.

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answered Jan 17, 2017 at 0:51

I don’t believe you should say «I have never been in Canada» for example. The «been in» does sound incorrect (although again, the meaning is clear). You could however perfectly correctly say «I have not spent any time in Canada» for example.

I hope that helps.

answered Jan 17, 2017 at 0:50

Well, as far as I understand, «has gone to» means «still there», so it doesn’t make sense for someone to ask «have you ever gone to» because this means that he is already there. «I have never gone to Canada» doesn’t make sense as well, as it means that he is still there so he doesn’t have to say that. So the right statement is «I have never been there» as it means that I didn’t travel to this place and come back to my hometown. I think that applies to «I have been in» as well.

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answered Jan 17, 2017 at 0:44