"gone there" vs "been there"

Question

What's the difference between

"I've gone there three times today"

and

"I've been there three times today"

?

Answer 1

In most cases, they mean the same thing. However, they don't have to.

1. I have gone to the store three times today. But each time, there was an accident and I was forced to return home before I got there.

Here, gone is being used in the same sense as left for. Although we would normally assume that you left for the store and arrived there, that doesn't always have to be the case. In the sense here, you would would more naturally say I tried to go, or (as already stated) I left for, but I have gone, in this sense, is not actually incorrect.

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2. I have been to the store three times times. Each time I got more of what I needed, but still forgot something.

In this sense, it actually is the case that you left for the store, arrived at the store, and spent some time at the store.

This is the same sense that gone typically conveys, even if it doesn't always. As with many things, context is important in understanding what's being communicated.

Answer 2

They both essentially mean the same thing in the sense that you were at a particular place today. That is a given. If you are talking to your friends casually, they both work equally well.

However, while nobody would question the use of "I've been there three times today" to mean that you went there and came back, there are many who would object to "I've gone there three times today" to mean the same thing.

Some often associate the use of "gone" with the person being somewhere else, away from the speaker. I myself choked when I read "I have gone means you have gone but haven't returned three times, which would mean you are still there" in anouk's answer. But then I looked into it.

Take a look at this post in WordReference (WF).

"If you are here, in the present, you cannot use the present perfect "I have gone there" in speech because you cannot be in two places at once." - Aardvark01

He said the past perfect would make sense with "gone": I had gone there three times today. Also, this wonderful answer in ELL by J.R. shows when we use the past perfect, both "been" and "gone" can be used to mean the same thing.

Here is what a different source, ThoughtCo., says:

"Has/have gone to refers to someone who has gone to a place but has not yet returned. In other words, someone who has gone to Hawaii is still in Hawaii having a good time."

There are some who recognize the nuance between the usage, but don't mind using either words (gone and been) when speaking casually.

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Here are some helpful threads in ELL: A, B, ELL gone/been threads.

Here are some other threads in WF: Been to/Gone to, "Been to" and "gone to" are never quite synonymous.

Answer 3

"I have been" means you have gone and returned three times and "I have gone" means you have gone but haven't returned three times, which would mean you are still there three times. I am not a native but I think it is probable that "gone" in this example is used like "been". Languages keep changing over time and the grammar is not always correct. Did you hear or read it somewhere?