native feel

HiTaka,

a) I haven't been to Australia.
(b) I have never been to Australia.
I looked at this for a while, and really didn't see any difference other than what you mention. I thought about it a bit more, and got the feeling that it probably depends on the context in which you would say this. We don't just speak sentences in isolati

Yes, I'd agree; though you can use the first to say that you have been to Australia:

1. I haven't been to Australia since I was a boy.

( A resident of Tasmania might say this.)

Here's another context for #2:

2. "Well, I've booked the tickets. Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia." "Australia! How exciting! I've never been to Australia."

MrP

Hmm...So there is no situation at all where (a) sounds weird and (b) is much better, and vice versa?

Hi Taka,

I don't understand your question, because I thought the examples we gave were ones in which one sounded better than the other.

Clive

Clive,

You just gave me an example of 'have not/haven't.' There is no comparison presented between 'have not' and 'have never', which is what I'm really interested in.

And about the example that MrP gave me, I don't know how I induce the essential difference between the two from that example.

Hello Taka

1. have not V

2. have never V

Usually, you could use #1 to state that you hadn't done X, but without excluding the possibility that you had done X in the past:

3. "No, I haven't made a pizza. I've made a quiche."

Cf.

4. "No, I've never made a pizza."

But 'going to Australia' doesn't allow us this possibility; so it's difficu

Hi,

OK.

Scenario one

Premise: I visited Australia 40 years ago, so I have been to Australia)

Now, in 2005

A: Hi, I see you're back from your trip. You've been to Australia this summer, haven't you?

B: Hi, nice to see you, too. I haven't been to Australia. I'v

Hi again,

I've been cutting my hedge and thinking about this a bit more. Let's look at a simpler example (unless the verb 'be' is what you want to focus on, but I don't think it is).

You meet a friend in the street at 1pm. You say I haven't eaten lunch. Do you want to go to the XYZ restaurant?

Here, you wouldn't use 'never'.

Your fri

So, is it that when you use 'have never', you are more conscious of a 'spectrum' of time?

I'm not a native speaker, but I think the difference is very subtle.

(a) I haven't been to Australia.
(b) I have never been to Australia.

The first sentence sounds incomplete and most people use (b) when they want to say that they've never visited Australia before. The first sentence (a) gives a slight meaning of time. (e.g. I haven't been to Australia since I was