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What is the difference between ‘I’ve been to’ and ‘I’ve been in’?

May 12, 2013 By Nestor 3 Comments

Look at the sentences below:

I’ve been to France five times.

I’ve been in London for about 3 weeks.

I’ve been is the present perfect of the verb be. We use the present perfect when we talk about 

 

  • our experiences (events that have happened in our lives)
  • situations that started in the past and continued to the present moment

 

However, there is an important difference between been to and been in.

When we say been to … we are talking about places that we have visited in our lives:

girl_in_singapore

Akiko lives in Singapore. She has never been to London.

 

 

 

 

When we say been in … we are talking about staying or living somewhere for a period of time from the past up to the present moment:

tourist in ParisJulia is tourist. She has been in Paris for 5 days.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: English grammar

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dayna says

    June 9, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    Thanks for the answer

    Reply
  2. Swarup samanta says

    November 25, 2015 at 7:32 am

    Really helpful

    Reply
  3. Sara says

    July 28, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    Thanks,it was great .i wish the best for you.

    Reply

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