Been vs Gone - English In A Minute

Hi, Sian here for BBC Learning English.

And today, we're going to look at these two little words.

So 'been' and 'gone' are both past participles,

both used with the present perfect,

but they don't have the same meaning.

We use 'been' to talk about complete visits.

So, 'she has been to Paris'

means that she visited Paris at some point in the past

and now she's back in the UK.

Careful with pronunciation.

When we say 'been' in a sentence,

it becomes /bɪn/.

She's been to Paris.

But, 'she's gone to Paris'

means she travelled to Paris

and she's still in Paris now.

She's on holiday. She's gone to Paris.

Easy, right?

Been – you go somewhere and return.

Gone – you go somewhere but don't return.