Present Perfect: “Have You Ever Been to (a Place)?”
Have you ever been to Rome, Italy?
You can use the present perfect to talk about a place, city, or country you have visited. The present perfect is used to talk about if, at any point in your life in the past, you have visited or traveled to a specific place. The present perfect is not used to talk about when you did something. It is used to talk about if you did something!
Correct answers:
Yes, …
I have!
I’ve been to Rome (once, twice, etc.).
I’ve been there (once, twice, etc.).
No, …
I haven’t!
I haven’t been to Italy.
I haven’t been there.
I’ve never been to Rome.
I’ve never been there.
Incorrect answers:
X:
I’ve ever been to Rome.
X:I’ve been to there.
X:I’ve been to Rome in 2005.
X:I’ve never been in Rome.
Ever
Ever is not used in present perfect statements. It is only used in questions with the present perfect.
Of course, there is an exception to this. When you make a superlative statement, for example when you want to say that something is the best, you can use ever.
Rome is the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to in the world!
Be
It is common in English to use the verb be when you talk about places you have visited. Don’t use visit. This sounds formal and unnatural.
Have you
visitedCanada?
To
Prepositions don’t translate between languages. In English, you must use the preposition to when you talk about places you have visited. This may be different from the preposition you use in your language. That’s OK! You just need to remember to use to in English!
I’ve been to Australia.
She’s been to 45 out of the 50 states in America.
Past Simple
Use the past simple verb tense to talk about when you visited a place.
Have you ever been to Rome?
– Yes, I’ve been to Rome! I went to Rome in 2005.
Would you be please so kind as to check sentence:
We nowhere have ever seen so many food/We nowhere else have ever seen so many food
My objective is = Affirmative+ever+nowhere
I’ll appreciate your kind comments
Hi, Vla!
Ever is not used in positive or negative statements with the present perfect.
Your sentence should be:
“We have never seen so much food.”
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Melanie, I’ve loved your article it helped me a lot… thank you. 🙂
Many thanks for the useful lesson.
Hi Melanie,
In Taiwan, the English textbooks say “I have ever been to Rome” is correct. When I read the book ‘Year of Wonders” which takes place in England in the 1600s, the characters use “I have ever …” when speaking which leads me to believe that it used to be correct, but it has fallen out of fashion. Do you have any information on why we stopped using this or at least direct me to a website? I’ve tried to research it, but can’t find anything definite. I would love to tell my students once and for all WHY we don’t use “I have ever …”anymore. Thanks
Hi, Ray,
I wish I could help but I have no idea why we stopped using that form! You really need new textbooks!
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I have a question about the grammer structure of the present perfect continuous questions.
why is it written as:” have you been… ” in stead of “have been you…” ?
Hi, Juliana!
The subject always comes after the FIRST helping/auxiliary verb in the question form. So even though there are two helping verbs in the present perfect continuous, the subject always comes after have!
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hi
could someone correct the tense of the sentence below(IN CAPITAL ) and also explain why the amended version is correct:
I’VE BEEN TO the cinema on thursday
Hi, Ammar,
The correct sentence is “I went to the movies on Thursday.”
1. Be is not used to talk about going to the movies.
2. The present perfect is not used to talk about when you went. Use the simple past to talk about when you did something.
3. Cinema is not used in American English. Use go to the movies instead.
thank you melanie your article was so usefull
Hi Melanie,
I really confused about “Have been” and “Has been” while I am speaking English. I know the differences between these verbs but somewhat confused with these two. For example :”While many of Nato officers have been killed in the army”
In the above sentence, why can’t we use “has been” ? And Why “Have been killed” does it mean they are going on killing them. I need your help to make me understand this Melanie.
thanks
Danny
Hi, Danny!
It is easier than you think! Have and has are different verb forms of the verb have. They are not two different verbs:
I have
You have
He/She/It has
We have
They have
The verb have is used in the perfect tenses. Have been and has been are the present perfect forms of the verb be.
Your sentence:
“While many of Nato officers have been killed in the army … ”
– “Many of the NATO officers” is a plural subject. It is the same as using they, so the correct form is have been.
– “ … have been killed” is the passive voice. In this sentence, it is not important who killed the NATO officers. This is what the sentence looks like in the active voice:
“The enemy has killed many of the NATO officers in the army.”
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Hello, Melanie!
I’m really sure that you can help me. I don’t know what to do in this situation: I’ve been/ I was Leonardo Di Caprio’s stunt double in “Titanic”?
I’m not sure we can use Present Perfect in that case…
Hi, Ilona!
The correct sentence is,
“I was Leonardo DiCaprio’s stunt double in Titanic.”
You can’t use the present perfect because you said when he worked as a stunt double: when Leonardo DiCaprio was filming Titanic.
If you didn’t add when or specify which movie, you could say,
“I’ve been Leonardo DiCaprio’s stunt double.”
= at some point in the past, I did this & I will probably do it again.
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