been /biːn, bɪn $ bɪn/ BrE AmE
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: gebeon ]
1 . the past participle of ↑ be
2 .
a) used to say that someone has gone to a place and come back
been to
I’ve never been to Japan.
have been to do something
Have you been to see the Van Gogh exhibition yet?
b) British English used to say that someone has come to a place and left again:
The postman hasn’t been yet.
3 . been there, seen that, done that spoken used to say that you are no longer interested in doing something, because you already have a lot of experience of it
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GRAMMAR
been in, been to, gone to, went to
Use have been in to talk about living or staying in a place:
▪
How long have you been in London?
Use have been to to talk about having visited a place and come back again:
▪
She’s been to the hospital for a check-up.
Use have gone to to talk about having travelled to a place and not come back:
▪
He had gone to Australia not long before.
Use went to to talk about a specific trip that someone made in the past:
▪
Last May I went to a conference in Montreal.