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I have have been reading about the present perfect and come across this example on this page. First have a look at the example and then find my question below, please.

The Martin family are on holiday in North America. Here are their travel plans:

Monday – am Niagara Falls, Canada. pm Fly to New York City.

Tuesday – New York City

Wednesday pm.– Arrive in Washington

Thursday - Washington

Friday– am Fly to Boston

It’s Wednesday morning. Are the sentences true or false?

[The Martin family have already (been) to Washington.]

[The Martin family have not yet been to Boston.]

[The Martin family have visited New York City.]

Let's suppose it is Wednesday evening (not morning). How do we differentiate between:

  1. Yes, they have; which means they have arrived and they are there now which I think is what the authors would write if it was Wednesday evening, and
  2. Yes, they have; which means they have gone and come back as in:

Have they been to Washington? Yes, they have.

Some related information:

  • An interesting answer to the question: Have been to/have been in a place
  • A Youtube video of an English teacher teaching the present perfect tense with verb to be: The verb "be" in the present perfect tense: have been. Clicking on the link takes you directly at 2m:53s where he uses this example: The have been in Washington since Monday.
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learner
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    The answer to "Have they been to Washington?" when you know that they are there now, is not "Yes, they have" It's something along the lines of: Well, yes, they're actually there now." – Jim Dec 11 '13 at 05:48
  • What I understand/thought is that the sentence "The Martin family have already been to Washington." mean they are back where they set off from, not there. And this is because the sentence is like telling experiences using the present perfect, and (been) is the past participle of (go). Am I right (which I doubt!) – learner Dec 11 '13 at 06:03
  • Should not the question be "Are they in Washington yet" or something like that? – learner Dec 11 '13 at 06:05
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    Yes, you are correct- have already been is used when they've gone and returned. You may say, "They've gone to Washington. which is fine to use when they're still there. – Jim Dec 11 '13 at 06:06
  • That's a different, but equally valid question. Are they in W. yet? means have they arrived or are they still on their way? You could ask, "Are they still in Washington?" – Jim Dec 11 '13 at 06:07
  • Do you think the sentence (The Martin family have already been to Washington) in the article incorrect and it should be written like this: (The Martin family have already been in Washington), i.e with the preposition in instead of the preposition to? – learner Dec 11 '13 at 07:22
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    No, to is correct- you go (as in travel) to a city, you don't go in a city. I also would have used has instead of have since while a family contains multiple people, family itself is singular. The Martin family has already been to Washington. – Jim Dec 11 '13 at 07:35
  • Re:family. Re:(The Martin family have already been to Washington), is it equivalent to (The Martin family have already been in Washington since Monday)? I know the last one is correct because I researched it. – learner Dec 11 '13 at 07:47
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    That's a little different- now been in means been staying in. But is not equivalent to already been to Washington.: been to means visited – Jim Dec 11 '13 at 08:03
  • Thanks Jim. I am still confused regarding the Martin family in the article. If it is Wednesday evening (not morning as in the question) can I say: (The Martin family have already been to Washington) knowing that they are still in Washington on Wednesday evening and they are leaving Washington on Thursday, next day? I got the answer regarding using (have gone), but I still want to confirm the (have been to) part. – learner Dec 11 '13 at 08:14
  • I made some additions to the post. Please, notice that the authors used this sentence too (The Martin family have not yet been to Boston.) which I understand that it functions as going there only and not going and leaving as I used to know. @john-q-public you may join us if possible. – learner Dec 11 '13 at 08:25
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    @learner I believe that you can use "they have been in X since ..." to hint that they went there and are still there. However, "they have been to X" is quite idiomatic, with the meaning: they went there and back, in short, they visited there. Because this idiomatic use, I believe that if a native speaker heard "they have been in X" without any specific context (such as "since ..."), they would think you meant they visited X, stayed in X for a while, and back. – Damkerng T. Dec 11 '13 at 08:27
  • Do you have any thoughts about the Boston sentence in my last comment? Thanks @DamkerngT. – learner Dec 11 '13 at 08:32
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    The Martin family have not yet been to Boston, sounds okay to me, though I might incline to use has than have (but I might be wrong about this). The Martin family have visited New York City, sounds a bit unusual but I think it's still all right, though I might myself say The Martin family has been visiting New York City, or even simply say The Martin family is now in New York City, (but again, I might be wrong about this too). – Damkerng T. Dec 11 '13 at 08:44
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    I agree with @Jim and DamkerngT -- all the sentences should begin “The Martin family *has* …”, because, even though “family” (typically) refers to multiple people, it is a collective noun (like “bunch”, “crowd”, “group”, and “mob”) and is singular. But, I had one English teacher who believed in saying, “A crowd was here this morning; now half of the crowd are down the street.” (I.e., *a crowd* is singular, but *half of a crowd* is plural.) FWIW, Microsoft Word’s grammar checker votes for “half of the crowd” *is*. – Scott - Слава Україні Dec 11 '13 at 22:44
  • Thanks to all of you guys. I do not have problems with the word family being a singular or plural. My problem is with using (been to) while the family 'is' still in Washington or Boston i.e. "have already been to Washington" or "have not yet been to Boston". Did you notice "yet been to Boston"? --- I did not have enough time to research the problem yesterday because of work; hopefully today I could. – learner Dec 12 '13 at 04:49
  • "half of that crowd is still a lot of people" (the number half) "half of that crowd went drinking" (individuals) – Kaz Dec 14 '13 at 01:49
  • I'm sorry but what's the question! Do we need to mark true/false as OP asks? Also, have been is past suggesting gone and left/came back ... so unless Friday, you may not prefer saying the family have already been to Washington. – Maulik V Jan 11 '14 at 08:52

3 Answers3

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The Martini family is due to arrive in Washington on Wednesday afternoon. We have this information, we know their plans. We also know that they are staying in Washington on Thursday, and flying to Boston on Friday.

It is Wednesday morning. A friend asks me:

Are the Martini family in Washington (yet)?

Me: No, not yet. They must be still on the plane

Therefore, the Martini family are not in Washington.

Wednesday evening. The same friend could ask three questions:

1) Are the Martini family in Washington (yet)?

2) Have the Martini family arrived in Washington?*

3) Have the Martini family been to Washington?

My answers:

1) Yes, they are. They arrived this afternoon. OR

1) Yes, they are already in Washington.

2) Yes, they have. They arrived in the afternoon.

3) They're still in Washington, they're staying for two days but they're flying to Boston on Friday morning.

Therefore, the family Martini are in Washington.

It is early Friday afternoon. A different friend asks me:

1) Are the Martini family in Washington?

2) Have the Martini family arrived in Washington?*

3) Have the Martini family been to Washington?

My answers:

1) No, they aren't.

2) Yes, that was on Wednesday. They're going to Boston now. I don't know if they've arrived yet.

3) Yes, they went on Wednesday and stayed two nights there. They should be on their way to Boston now. I don't know what time their flight lands.

Therefore, (on Friday) the family Martini are not in Washington. they are travelling to a different destination. In other words, they have been to Washington.

Some speakers will also say: "The family have gone to Washington." This is considered ungrammatical or careless by some. The past participle of the verb be should be used in cases such as these, when we want to express that someone has gone to a destination and is either coming back home or going to a different place.

Been is used to describe completed visits. If somebody has been to Washington twice, he or she has travelled there and back twice. If somebody has gone to Washington, he or she has not yet returned.

Mari-Lou A
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"They have been" means they was there and they are not there now. It is the Perfect Tense. Prefect has the sense "finished" here.

Not to mix with the Prefect Continuous Tense!

They have been doing something till now.

They are still doing it now.

In your example the verb "be" in its form "been" is a main verb, and in the "have been doing" it is a service verb.

So, we can't say "They have been to Washington" at Wednesday evening yet. You say, "They are in Washington" instead.

Also, look at this post on EL&U.

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Gangnus
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Restatement of the Question

I'm going to restate your question in the following way... (I'll explain why by the end of the post.)

As of Wednesday evening, how would a fluent speaker answer each of the following questions:

  1. Has the Martin family been to Washington yet?
  2. Has the Martin family been to Boston yet?
  3. Has the Martin family been to New York City yet?

Short Answer

I would answer those questions in the following way:

  1. The Martin family is currently in Washington.
  2. Not yet.
  3. Yes, they have.

Long Answer

The key is that whenever you ask if someone has completed an activity that has a duration, there are really three possible answers:

Yes. [The person has completed the activity.]

Not yet. [The person hasn't started the activity.]

They're doing it now. [The person has started the activity but hasn't finished.]

Asking if someone "has been" somewhere yet is asking about an activity with a duration -- the activity starts when the person arrives and finishes when the person leaves. People will normally distinguish between the three possible situations (hasn't started, started but not finished, finished) in their answer.

The result is that it's hard to say whether the statement "the Martin family has been to Washington" is true or false, since it's a little of both, which is why I suggested restating your question the way I did.

godel9
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