Using have gone to / been to / been in

Question

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

1. "has gone to" — there or on his way to;
2. "has been to" — someone has been there but he is on his way back;
3. "has been in" — someone is still there;

But now I am puzzled by next statements:

1. Have you ever been to / in Greece? — Yes, it's a very beautiful country;
2. 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)?

Answer 1

Your understanding of the three phrases is not quite correct:

1. has gone to - there or on his way to;
2. 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
3. has been in - someone is still there; someone has gone there at some point in the past and is still there

So these statements:

1. Have you ever been to / in Greece? - Yes, it's a very beautiful country;
2. 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.

Answer 2

Certainly "Have you ever gone to... " is acceptable, but deciding whether to use "been" or "gone" can be a matter of context or personal preference.

"I have never gone... " is the same as above.

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.

Answer 3

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.