At first sight, \u2018been\u2019 and \u2018gone\u2019 appear to be simple to distinguish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Been\u2019 is the past participle of the verb \u2018to be\u2019, and so, as such, is used in perfect tenses. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I have been very tired recently.\u2019<\/p>
\u2018My car has been stolen.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Gone\u2019 is the past participle of the verb \u2018to go\u2019, and so is used in perfect tenses to represent this common verb. Again, here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018My brother has gone to Europe.\u2019<\/p>
\u2018Where have they gone?\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
However, there is one situation when these two participles, which appear to be totally different, are linked. That situation is in movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gone<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Gone\u2019, as the past participle of \u2018to go\u2019, represents when a person of thing has moved to another place, such as in the examples above. Here are some more examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018My colleague Simon has gone home early today.\u2019<\/p>
\u2018Where have you gone? We need you back here in the office.\u2019 (A cell phone conversation)<\/p><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The emphasis in these examples is that the subject of the sentence is no longer in the place where the statement is made, or where the subject began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n
\u2018Been\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Been\u2019, as the past participle of \u2018to be\u2019, is often used to speak about states, such as emotions and feelings, or to describe a passive action (where \u2018to be\u2019 is used as an auxiliary).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, \u2018been\u2019 is also used to speak about movement. In this case, the person or thing moved to another place, but has since returned to the original place. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Have you ever been to Mexico?\u2019<\/p>
\u2018Yes, I\u2019ve been to Mexico three times.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In this instance, the conversation is definitely not taking place in Mexico, so represents a journey that was made and then returned from. In this case, three times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this way, \u2018been\u2019 is typically used in the present perfect tense to talk about experiences of travel or movement, again such as in the example above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Gone\u2019 Vs \u2018Been\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There is, therefore, a fundamental difference between using \u2018gone\u2019 and \u2018been\u2019 to talk about movement. Note the contrast in these examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Where have you gone?\u2019 (A cell phone conversation between two people who were in the same place at some stage before the conversation)<\/p>
\u2018Where have you been?\u2019 (A face-to-face conversation between two people who are now in the same place, but one of whom was absent for a period).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In the second example above, it would also be acceptable to say \u2018Where did you go?\u2019, particularly in the United States. In British English, the present perfect tense with \u2018been\u2019 (as in the example above) would be more common.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, in summary, \u2018gone\u2019 is movement in one directions, whereas \u2018been\u2019 represents a movement or journey that was returned from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have \u2018gone to France\u2019, you haven\u2019t come back (you are still in France).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have \u2018been to France\u2019, you are definitely not in France now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example mistakes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
These are examples of typical mistakes when using \u2018gone\u2019 and \u2018been\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Have you ever
gone<\/s> to Mexico? \u2013 \u2018been\u2019<\/p>\u2018Yes, I\u2019ve
gone<\/s> to Mexico three times.\u2019 \u2013 \u2018been\u2019<\/p>\u2018I\u2019ve
gone<\/s> there before.\u2019 \u2013 \u2018been\u2019<\/p>\u2018Where did you go?\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ve just
gone<\/s> to the shop to buy this soda.\u2019 \u2013 \u2018been\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nGenerally speaking, it is much more common to make a mistake by using \u2018gone\u2019 instead of \u2018been\u2019 than vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At first sight, \u2018been\u2019 and \u2018gone\u2019 appear to be simple to distinguish. \u2018Been\u2019 is the past participle of the verb \u2018to be\u2019, and so, as such, is used in perfect tenses. Here are some examples: \u2018I have been very tired recently.\u2019 \u2018My car has been stolen.\u2019 \u2018Gone\u2019 is the past participle of the verb \u2018to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[471,546,607,468,15,503,581,14,573,552,577,613],"class_list":["post-1628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-english","tag-english-as-a-second-language","tag-english-learn","tag-english-learning","tag-grammar","tag-grammar-checking","tag-grammar-rules","tag-how-to","tag-language-learning","tag-learning-english","tag-learning-new-words","tag-past-participles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
How to Use the Past Participles \u2018Been\u2019 and \u2018Gone\u2019 Correctly - Linguix Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/how-to-use-the-past-participles-been-and-gone-correctly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use the Past Participles \u2018Been\u2019 and \u2018Gone\u2019 Correctly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At first sight, \u2018been\u2019 and \u2018gone\u2019 appear to be simple to distinguish. \u2018Been\u2019 is the past participle of the verb \u2018to be\u2019, and so, as such, is used in perfect tenses. 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