redgilda Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Hello, I was wondering what is your opinion and/or maybe the offical grammar rule for sentences like: 1. Have you ever been in England (before)? vs. 2. Have you ever been to England (before)? Assuming that both speakers are presently in another country, is either of the sentences incorrect? or more commonly used? or unnatural to a native speaker? I would imagine that the latter is more commonly used, however, I the former does seem correct to me as well.. Feel free to give me any input on this :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 1. Have you ever been in England? (means: in this country, on this land) 2. Have you ever been to England? (your experience, for example: visit or travel) Even if the grammatical setups are correct, no.1 is very seldom in use and would sound strange without background. Use no.2 for a better English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasleys Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Originally posted by redgilda Hello, I was wondering what is your opinion and/or maybe the offical grammar rule for sentences like: 1. Have you ever been in England (before)? vs. 2. Have you ever been to England (before)? Assuming that both speakers are presently in another country, is either of the sentences incorrect? or more commonly used? or unnatural to a native speaker? I would imagine that the latter is more commonly used, however, I the former does seem correct to me as well.. Feel free to give me any input on this :cool: redgilda I don't know about official grammar rules, but here are some opinions. I think 'in' would be used if time was the main context, 'to' would be used if movement was the main context. Some examples: Have you ever been in England in the winter? Were you in England in 2003? I was in England on business. How long have you been in England? Will you be going to England this winter? Did you go to England in 2003? I went to England on business. How often have you been to England? Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekgoddess Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 redgilda, I would definitely follow wasleys advice. It was very clear and accurate. Follow the rule, not the example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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