When talking about past experience, what is the difference between these two sentences?        Have you gone to Hong Kong?   Have you ever gone to Hong Kong?
58044
Both are in the present perfect, but one uses the verb 'to go' and the other 'to be'. Is there a rule for this?  Is there any chance that the differences between "I have been" vs. "I have gone", are differences in English dialect (I don't know if this is the right word).  Edit Could I say that North American English speakers use "I have gone", and maybe U.K speakers say "I've been"? Or vice versa.
111155
What is the difference between these phrases? When is it valid to use which? Should they be avoided as being ambiguous?
13453
I was just wondering, how can we differentiate "are you done?" and "have you done?", and what is the appropriate way to use each?
60908
As I know we can use both structures to talk about past ability , but is there any difference between them?  A. He could climb the mountain  B. He could have climbed the mountain
110501
I read this  and this one is different because the second clause is in present tense.  I'm born and brought up in India. - too commonly practiced in India.  I was born in India is correct over I'm born in India. I am pretty clear on that, but then if I want to include brought up which is still effective (present), how do I say that?  I was born and brought up in India. - does not relate the sentence to the present time then. As both are in past I was born in India + I was brought up in India. - no. I AM brought up in India, I'm still here.
22900
Joe asks me: "Do you often go to the cinema?"  I reply: "No, I have not been to the cinema for a long time"  This is correct.  But can I say:     "I have not gone to the cinema for a long time"
62136
What is the proper way to combine past tense of do (did) with multiple bare infinitives in a question:   Did you go to vacation or stay at home? Did you go to vacation or stayed at home? Did you go to vacation or did you stay at home?   The last one is always correct, but I assume shorter form is more desirable, especially if more than two verbs are involved: Did you go to vacation, stay/stayed at home, go/went to work, or do/did something forth?  Also, if the second form is not correct, could it be transformed to Did you go to vacation or you stayed at home? I assume that this form has a little bit different meaning, because the emphasis is on vacation, and staying at home is just mentioned as one of the alternatives. Basically, this form can be answered with Yes or No, while the aforementioned three ones cannot (I offered two equally probable alternatives in the question). Does my reasoning on this make sense?  I am not a native English speaker and I caught myself using the second form occasionally (although it seems to clearly break the rule auxiliary verb + bare infinitive).
113209
The simple past tense indicates that an activity or situation began   and ended at a particular time in the past.      The present perfect expresses the idea that something happened (or   never happened) before now, at an unspecified time in the past.The   exact time it happened is not important. It also expresses the   repetition of an activity before now. The exact time of each   repetition is not important.   Even though I understand the explanation above, I can't figure out: If the present perfect states the idea that something happened in the past, why not use the simple past?  For example, would you please explain the following sentence to tell the difference between these two tenses?         The plane crashed there.    The plane has crashed there.      What is the biggest difference between them?
40163
Sometimes I feel difficulty telling the difference between simple past and present perfect.  Given a picture like this:    which one is correct between these two? Or in what sense are they different?  A. He fell off his motorcycle.  B. He has fallen off his motorcycle.
53725
Here are two sentences:        Once he got the passport, he went to the Chinese consulate in Toronto and applied for a visa.   Once he got the passport, he went to the Chinese consulate in Toronto to apply for a visa.      Are the two sentences grammatical, and do they sound natural?  If they are both fine, what's the difference?
91746
Accourding to ,   We often use "been to" when we refer to completed visits to a place:  Have you ever been to Budapest?  Not: Have you ever gone to Budapest?  If the visit is not complete, we use "gone to".  Joan’s just gone to the shop. She’ll be back in about ten minutes. (Joan has not yet returned from the shop.)  Joan’s just been to the shop. She bought some cakes. Would you like one? (Joan has returned from the shop.)  Now, does that rule apply to the  "Have been on a trip" &amp; "Have gone on a trip"?  So, "I have been on a trip" (I completed the trip &amp; currently I am staying at home)  "I have gone on a trip" (I haven't completed the trip &amp; currently I am on the trip)  And what about "gone crazy" &amp; "been crazy".  Does "He has gone crazy" mean now he is still crazy?  Does "He has been crazy" mean now he is not crazy any more?  Are there any differences between "Have been on a trip" vs "Have gone on a trip" and "Have been crazy" vs "Have gone crazy"?  Note: I am not asking about "been to" or "gone to". I am asking about "been on a trip" &amp; "gone on a trip". Do we apply the same rule of "been to" or "gone to" to "been on a trip" &amp; "gone on a trip"?  Note2:  seems to prove that my thinking is right.
96795
In 1999, I was living in Cuba.      In 1999, I lived in Cuba.   Do both sentences seem grammatically correct?   My teacher had told that the first sentence, which is with past continuous, is incorrect. I don't know whether or not the first sentence is correct. It indeed seems natural, doesn't it?
71612
What's the difference between      I have been playing tennis for five years.   and   I have played tennis for five years.   Are they grammatically correct? If yes, how are they different in meaning/nuance?
66097
I have the following sentences.        This is our first arrival in the UK.   These are our first arrival in the UK.      I am not sure, which sentence is correct?
98825
Until I went into the army, I (had been / used to be / was ) an introverted person. And after I I finished army service, I became more confident.   I think all of these are possible.  As for had been, I'm referring to the state of me being introverted before the accident that happened in the past. So, I think I can use had been.  And at the same time I feel I can use used to be and was.. If I don't want to emphasize the time gap between two accident, I feel I don't need to use past perfect. So I think this problem depends on how I'm going to say something.   which one is preferable? and what is the difference?
9983
Can anybody tell me the difference between the following two sentences:  He saw me talking to her. He saw me talk to her.  Please let me know if both the statements are valid and grammatically correct. If valid, please explain the meaning of both the statements and what is the difference between the two.
44726
What is the difference between     Did you watch this movie?    and     Have you watched this movie?