Prepositions
Could you please explain me why "to"(ordinary for the Present Perfect in such sentences)) is ignored in the following sentence:
I haven't been in England long. (taken from the ENGLISH GRAMMAR) ???
Top answer
When "be" is used with its normal meaning, we can be in a place, but we cannot be to a place. g. "I have been to England", referring to past experience, is a special idiomatic use of "been", where the word is used more like a substitute past participle of the verb "go", so we use "to".
- When "be" is used with its normal meaning, we can be in a place, but we cannot be to a place.
- g.
- "I have been to England", referring to past experience, is a special idiomatic use of "been", where the word is used more like a substitute past participle of the verb "go", so we use "to".
- )
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When "be" is used with its normal meaning, we can be in a place, but we cannot be to a place. The present perfect usage that you refer to, e.g. "I have been to England", referring to past experience, is a special idiomatic use of "been", where the word is used more like a substitute past participle of the verb "go", so we use "to". ("I have gone to England" is also possible but
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