Present perfect tense

Key concepts

"Been to" vs. "gone to"

We use these two conjugations in the present perfect tense.

Present Perfect

We use it for:

have/has + past participle

Been to vs. gone to

The difference between these two words is where the person is at the moment of speaking.

Completed visits

They have been to Paris.

→ They are not in Paris.

Not returned yet

They have gone to Paris.

→ They are still in Paris.

That’s the only difference, the construction of the sentence still the same.

Time Expressions

Present Perfect Continuous

We use it for:

Present Perfect

have/has + past participle

Present Perfect Continuous

have/has + been + verb(ing)