Been, went, gone confusion

Question

Hi, I have a little conversation here that I need help with

Andy: Is it true that you're French?
Mandy: Yes, but the last time I've been to France was when I was about 4-5 yrs. old
Yes, but the last time I've gone to France was when I was about 4-5 yrs. old
Yes, but the last time I went to France was when I was about 4-5 yrs. old
or

: Yes, but I haven't been to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old
Yes, but I haven't gone to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old
Yes, but I haven't went to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old

I've searched the internet a couple of times and lets just say I'm even more befuddled than I ever was, multiple sources, conflicting answers

English is my third language, Help!

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

Hi,

This is my approach.

tipton
Andy: Is it true that you're French?

Mandy:

Yes, but the last time I went to France was when I was about 4-5 yrs. old

This is a simple past tense answer which is sufficient. You went to France and came back, period.

tipton
Yes, but I haven't been to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old

This answer backshifts the time to a period when you were 4-5 years old. From that point forward, you have not visited France again. Therefore, "haven't been...." is the proper answer.

Yankee · Answer

tiptonYes, but I haven't went to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old

Just an additional note:
"Haven't went" would never be grammatically correct.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Okay, now I'm having gone/been confusion too.

I thought you love Cape May?
I do, and the sad thing is, I haven't gone/been there since 2003!

Uhhh... am I over thinking this?

Yankee · Answer

No, you're not over-thinking, Barb. I agree that you could use either haven't been or haven't gone.

BarbaraPA · Answer

So tipton (by the way, tipton, welcome to English Forums!) could use either the "been" or "gone" sentence, right?

(Sheesh, every once in a while I get to a point with things like that where everything sounds funny.)

Khoff · Answer

Yes, but the last time I've been to France was when I was about 4-5 yrs. old --No.

Yes, but the last time I've gone to France was when I was about 4-5 yrs. old --No.

Yes, but the last time I went to France was when I was about 4-5 yrs. old --Grammatically correct, but it means that Mandy went to France at least once before she was 4 or 5 years old. if she was born in France, stayed there unhtil age 4 or 5 and then left, this would not be factually correct.

or

: Yes, but I haven't been to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old This is fine. You could also say "been in France"

Yes, but I haven't gone to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old This is okay only if she actually went to France before age 4 or 5. (See above explanation)

Yes, but I haven't went to France since I was about 4-5 yrs. old No, no, no.

[/quote]

Tipton · Answer

Thank you, didn't expect to get replies that fast

I'll definitely be asking more if/when I get stuck on something

having a hard time learning grammar especially from our english teacher

Khoff · Answer

Tipton, I didn't notice that this was your first post. Welcome to English Forums!

For a third language, you English is excellent! Just out of curiosity, what are your first and second languages?

Anonymous · Answer

Hello,

"The last time I went" is correct. You are talking about one, specific incident that happened in the past (when you were 4 or 5), and is now finished, so you use the past simple.

"I've gone to France" implies that you have moved there permanently. You use the present perfect to describe a situation that started in the past but continues in the present.

"I've been to France" implies that at some point in the past, you visited France (perhaps more than once). Again, the present perfect. We often use this to talk about life experiences. For example; "I have owned 4 cars in my life".

I hope that helps!

English Teacher.

Been, went, gone confusion

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