Have you ever been to London?
or
Have you ever gone to London?
Which one is correct?
asked Jun 8, 2015 at 11:58
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Duplicate of ell.stackexchange.com/questions/58774/…– ChenmunkaCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 12:03
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3 Answers
I think you want to know the difference between "go to some place" and "have been to some place". The difference is that when you use "go to," you are talking about the action of just going to that place. Whereas, when you use "have been to," you're talking about the action of going and coming back. That's the difference between "go to a place" and "have been to a place". In your sentences:
- Have you ever been to London?
- Have you ever gone to London?
Both of these sentences are correct. There is a slight difference in meaning. In the first one, the speaker is asking about the listener's visit to London (action of returning included). In the second one, the speaker is just asking about the action of going to London (action of returning excluded). I hope that it's clear now. By the way, the first sentence is commoner than the second one.
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1If you want to tutor new users about accepting answers, that's fine. However, you should at least wait until sufficient time has passed, and not encourage a user to accept an answer prematurely.– J.R. ♦Commented Jun 8, 2015 at 20:39
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@J.R. OK I'm sorry for that. I'll bear this in mind. Your link helped me a lot.– GurpreetCommented Jun 9, 2015 at 1:17
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1"Have you ever gone to London?" is also asking about a return journey to and from London. You wouldn't ask somebody who is still in London if they've gone there. Your first paragraph is talking about "go to", but the expression in question is "gone to".– nnnnnnCommented May 18, 2016 at 2:59
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This is downvoted but correct, I'm glad it's the accepted answer. "Gone" refers to the journey itself but "been" refers to a visit in its entirety. With the construction "Have you ever been/gone" the meaning difference is almost nothing, but there is just slightly more emphasis on the journey itself with "gone" rather than the visit in its entirety with "been".– Some_GuyCommented Oct 6, 2018 at 22:57
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The difference is more apparent with "He's just been to London" vs "He's just gone to London". In the second situation he's just left, but in the first he's just come back.– Some_GuyCommented Oct 6, 2018 at 22:59
Both are fine :)
Have you ever been to London?
Have you ever gone to London?
The latter sounds a little more informal to me.
The second is NOT correct for no reason. Every time you mean a country or another place you say been to. Gone is used for activities such as: Have you ever gone skiing? Have you ever gone hitchhiking?
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No, "gone" and "been" are both fine in relation to both places and activities.– nnnnnnCommented May 18, 2016 at 3:13