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I'd like to know whether the past tense "went to" or the present perfect "have been to" should be used in the following. Do different dialects behave differently here?

A: I went to Boston five times. / I have been to Boston five times.

B: Wow! I'm so envious.

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As often is the case, the problem with the examples are context. Without context things are often not meaningful. Both cases mean travelled and are in the past.

As a kid I went to Boston five times to visit my Aunt.

I am worn out! I have been to Boston five times this week.

I went to

went = go, go = travel

I travelled to Boston five times.

I have been = travel

I travelled to Boston five times

**Been** verb UK /biːn/ /bɪn/ US /biːn/ /bɪn/

past participle of be; used to mean "visited" or "travelled",:

I've never been to Kenya, but I hope to visit it next year. "Have you ever been there before?" - "Yes, I've been twice."

used as the past participle of "go" when the action referred to is finished:

She's been to the hairdresser's (= and now she has returned). Do you need to go to the bathroom, or have you already been?

Ref; CED

In relation to your comment on or the present perfect "have been to"

We use the present perfect continuous to talk about a finished activity in the recent past. Using the present perfect continuous focuses on the activity.

We don’t give a specific time. Even though the activity is finished, we can see the result in the present:

I’ve just been cleaning the car. (The car is wet and clean.)

It’s been snowing. (The ground is covered in snow.)

What have you been buying?

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  • Is it wrong to say "I am worn out! I went to Boston five times this week"?
    – Apollyon
    Commented Mar 5, 2021 at 14:29
  • @Apollyon Not if you travelled there. However a better question would be is it wrong to say "As a kid I have been to Boston five times to visit my Aunt"
    – Brad
    Commented Mar 5, 2021 at 14:36
  • Why does this answer talk (at length) about present perfect continuous? There are no continuous forms at all in the question. It looks as if you are interpreting been as introducing a continuous, but it doesn't here (there's no -ing). In fact, the question relies on a special meaning of been to (only the perfect, not other forms of be) meaning visited and come back.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Mar 5, 2021 at 14:49
  • @Colin Fine. Agreed I have tried to clarify my answer. I had tried to point out that both examples were of travelling in the past and then secondly the use of "present perfect continuous" I hope now this is more clear.
    – Brad
    Commented Mar 10, 2021 at 6:23

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