Difference Between Been and Gone

Been vs Gone

“Been” and “gone” both are used in the present perfect tense.

For example,
She has gone to school.
She has been to America.

Though they belong to the same tense, their use is different from each other. They are used in different contexts and cannot be used in each other’s place. Many people do not know about their different uses and use them incorrectly.

“Gone” is used to indicate activities which have been completed in the immediate past. To indicate immediate past, words like “just” are used.

For example,

He has just gone out.

Been is used to describe past actions whose time is not definite.

For example,

He has been to India.

When we do not use words like “just” with “gone,” then it means the action has been completed, not necessarily in the immediate past, but has been completed for sure.

For example,

He has gone to America.

This sentence denotes that “He” went to America and is still there. Probably he has moved and started living there. When you use “been” in the sentence, “He has been to America,” it denotes that he went to America and, after some time, came back. He is not in America anymore.

Another example can describe it better: “He has gone to India,” and “He has been to India twice.” Both sentences cannot be interchanged. When someone has gone to India, he is still in India. You cannot say, “He has gone to India twice.” It might not sound incorrect, but it is. It means twice he moved to India which is not a sound sentence. Using “He has been to India twice,” would mean he visited India twice and came back to his own country.

“Gone” is used only for the present perfect tense. “Been” is used for present perfect continuous tense also. It is used to denote an action which began at some time in the past and is still continuing.

For example,

He has been sleeping for three hours.

This sentence conveys that he has been sleeping for three hours and is still sleeping.

“Been” is the past participle of “be,” and “gone” is the past participle of “go.”

Summary:

1.The difference between “been” and “gone” is that “been” is the past participle of “be,” and “gone” is the past participle of “go.”
2.“Gone” is used for the present perfect tense and not used for present perfect continuous tense. “Been” is used for present perfect as well as present perfect continuous tense too.
3.“Gone” is used in the present perfect tense denoting an action that was completed in the immediate past or completed in general; “been” is used to denote an action in the past whose time is not definite.

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