 Re: Been or Gone ?
You will sometimes see expressions like I've gone twice particularly in US English (try Googling it - you'll find several examples on sites reviewing hotels, restaurants etc), but in other varieties the forms are often chosen to express a meaning difference :
Been = gone and come back here again
gone = ...and am still there.
So, if I needed to go to the supermarket, and my husband was out, I might leave a message for him saying I've gone to the supermarket - ie I'm not at home because I'm at the supermarket. But that evening when we discovered that there was no milk in the fridge I might say I've been to the supermarket once already today. I'm not going again! - ie I went there and am now back home.
So think about it - the reason that I've gone is rarer than eg he's gone /they've gone is the meaning : you can't be "here" and tell someone you're "there" at the same time. Except of course in the case of written messages and in other uses of go - eg become : Give me a minute - I've gone all dizzy - ie I'm dizzy at the moment. |