Gone vs Been
When you consider the words alone, everyone understands the difference between gone and been since they have different meanings. However, the difference between gone and been becomes confusing when they are used with has/have/had as they appear to give a similar meaning. However, there is a subtle difference between them, which you will understand when you read this article. The word gone is used as a verb. It is in fact, the past participle form of the verb ‘go’ and is used in the present perfect (has gone) and past perfect (had gone) tenses. On the other hand, the word been is the past particle form of ‘be’. The verb been is used in the case of present perfect continuous tense and past perfect continuous tense. This is the main difference between the two words.
What does Gone mean?
The word gone is used as a verb. Observe the two sentences given below.
He has gone to London.
She had gone before.
In both the sentences given above, you can find that the verb gone is used in the present perfect and the past perfect tense respectively.
It is important to note that the verb gone arises out of the irregular verb ‘go’. Irregular verbs have different present tense and past participle forms. The past participle forms differ between simple past and past perfect too. It is important to know about the usage of the irregular verbs like ‘go’. The verb gone is moreover regarded as an intransitive verb.
When gone is used with ‘has/have/had’ that gives the meaning of a visit. However, you should remember that this means the person you are speaking about has travelled somewhere but has not returned yet. Look at the example.
She has gone to Spain.
So, she is still in Spain.
What does Been mean?
The word been is the past participle of the verb ‘be.’ Observe the two sentences given below.
She had been going to his house several times.
He has been committing mistakes often.
In both the sentences, you can see that the auxiliary verb been is used in the past perfect continuous tense and the present perfect continuous tense respectively.
It is interesting to note that the verb been when used with ‘has/have/had’ gives the additional meaning of ‘visited’ as in the sentence ‘you had been to London twice’. In this sentence, the expression ‘had been’ gives the meaning of ‘visited’ and hence, the meaning of the sentence would be ‘you visited London twice’. However, you should remember that been is used for completed visits. Therefore, according to the example, this person has gone and come back from London twice.
What is the difference between Gone and Been?
• The word gone is used as a verb. It is in fact, the past participle form of the verb ‘go.’ Gone is used in the present perfect (has gone) and past perfect (had gone) tenses.
• On the other hand, the word been is also used as a verb. It is the past particle form of the verb ‘be’. Been is used in the case of present perfect continuous tense and past perfect continuous tense.
• The verb been when used with ‘has/have/had’ gives the additional meaning of ‘visited.’ However, here we are talking about completed visits.
• On the other hand, the verb gone, when used with ‘has/have/had’ means that the person you are speaking about has travelled somewhere but has not returned yet.