Is the difference between "been" & "gone" used in non-travelling activities?
Solution 1:
I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying about these two words (been and gone), so I’d like to start the discussion all over.
All of the following expressions are possible.
Adam has been (or “has gone”) to France many times. (This expression is possible regardless of where Adam is right now.)
Adam has been at lunch for 40 minutes, so I expect him to return soon.
- Adam has gone to lunch, but I expect him back soon.
- Adam has been to the bank and he’s home already.
- Adam has gone to the bank and returned to work already.
So I think that there are subtle differences in the way we use “been” and “gone” to describe travel, but the difference is not exactly a question of whether the traveler is still at the place he’s been (or gone) to.
Some of the expressions in this discussion sound to me (an American) slightly British; maybe other Americans or British people would disagree with me. It doesn’t sound quite native to me to say “Your skin has gone all red.” If someone told me his feet were still swollen, I might say “How long has that been true? How long have your feet been swollen?” Some change would occur if they were no longer swollen: “His feet had been swollen for two hours when the paramedics arrived.” But I suppose you could say “How many times have your bones been broken,” or “How many times has your temperature been over 101 degrees,” regardless of the current state of things.
So again, it’s not easy to make a simple rule of the complexities of idiom, but it seems that “been” can be used for things still true and for things no longer true.
And finally, “I’ve been working all day” seems more appropriate to me where someone is now working; “I’ve gone working all day” sounds so strange I can’t guess what it means about the present. But I guess that a tired homemaker might post a note on the bedroom door saying “I’ve been working all day [I’m now working and have been all day] and I’ve gone to sleep [it’s a moment later, and I’m no longer working but now sleeping]."
And if people still can’t understand you, just talk louder. That’s what most of us do when we visit foreign places.