Have you ever been to (=have you ever travelled to) Japan?beenbeen /biːn, bɪn $ bɪn/ verb 
I’ve never been to Japan.have been to do something Have you been to see the Van Gogh exhibition yet? b)British English used to say that someone has come to a place and left again: The postman hasn’t been yet.3been there, seen that, done that spoken used to say that you are no longer interested in doing something, because you already have a lot of experience of itGRAMMAR: Comparisonhave been• You use have been to when someone has visited a place and come back again: · She’s been to the hospital for a check-up.• You use have been in when someone has lived or stayed in the same place: · How long have you been in London?have gone• You use have gone to when someone has travelled to a place and not come back: · Mark’s not here. He’s gone to the shops.went• You use went to to talk about a trip that someone made in the past: · Last May I went to a conference in Montreal.
WORD ORIGINbeen
Origin:
Old English gebeonCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Have you ever been to (=have you ever travelled to) Japan? I have been to (=have travelled to) Germany several times. The company’s always been very good to me. Much of the groundwork has already been done. At last we’ve won our freedom but it’s been a long bitter haul. It has been suggested that the manager will resign if any more players are sold.
Have you ever been to (=have you ever travelled to) Japan? I have been to (=have travelled to) Germany several times. The company’s always been very good to me. Much of the groundwork has already been done. At last we’ve won our freedom but it’s been a long bitter haul.· There’s been a misunderstanding about what I meant.
(=used to say that something is strange because it has never happened before) Max had never been known to leave home without telling anyone.
Max had never been known to leave home without telling anyone.· We’ve been driving since six this morning.
· She had been waiting since five o’clock.
It has been suggested that the manager will resign if any more players are sold.PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► look as if you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards► somebody has been had► (it’s been) nice meeting/talking to you
1the past participle of be2a)used to say that someone has gone to a place and come backbeen to- I've been around the block a few times, and I think I know when someone's trying to cheat me.
- When you've been around as long as I have you realize some things aren't worth getting upset about.
- Armies are the main conventional weapon and have been around for over five millennia in various forms.
- Demos have been around as long as computer games.
- Most of them have been around a lot longer.
- Neural networks used for robotics and control applications have been around for a relatively long time.
- Some have been around a long time, others are of more recent origins.
- The usual suspects are labor unions, which have been around for a century.
- They have been around, practically unchanged, for at least 200 million years.
- Though I must have been around just at that time, I think.
- He can continue to appeal, or go to some other level, until he feels justice has been done.
- He has successfully persuaded the crowd that justice has been done.
- Mr Townsend says he feels justice has been done.
- Mrs Alliss' solicitor says justice has been done.
I’ve never been to Japan.have been to do something Have you been to see the Van Gogh exhibition yet? b)British English used to say that someone has come to a place and left again: The postman hasn’t been yet.3been there, seen that, done that spoken used to say that you are no longer interested in doing something, because you already have a lot of experience of itGRAMMAR: Comparisonhave been• You use have been to when someone has visited a place and come back again: · She’s been to the hospital for a check-up.• You use have been in when someone has lived or stayed in the same place: · How long have you been in London?have gone• You use have gone to when someone has travelled to a place and not come back: · Mark’s not here. He’s gone to the shops.went• You use went to to talk about a trip that someone made in the past: · Last May I went to a conference in Montreal.