Had been or have been?

Had before a 2nd completed action - I had been to Bangalore before I decided to move there. (decided)

Have been and may go again - I have been to Bangalore before, and perhaps someday I'll move there. (not yet decided)

Hi Radnus,

I have been to Bangalore several times. ( This sentence explains your routine frequency)

I had been to Bangalore eight years ago.(This sentence goes back to the past,very long time ago).You can't say I had been to Bangalore two days back. Then it would be, I was in Bangalore two days back.

Savvy

Hello Sundar

As W3.com has already said, you need any reference past time to use the version of "I had been". "Last Sunday I went to Bangalore. I had been to Bangalore twice before then." Here the reference past time is "last Sunday" and "had been" implies your experience of 'going to/staying in Bangalore twice' took place before "last Sunday".

You can't say I had been to Bangalore two days back.

The amount of time has nothing to do with it. It doesn't have to be eight years ago, or any number of years. You can say, "I had been to Bangalore two days before (that)" without any problem if the context is right, regardless of how long ago you made the trip. Borrowing from Paco's post, I must emphasize th

Two days back I was in Bangalore