Question

Here's the question: "Do you go to the movies a lot?"

Here's the answer: "No, I haven't been to the movies for ages."

Can I write "No, I haven't gone to the movies for ages."? 

Thanks

Michael, Taipei 

Yang Li

谢谢 Michael。首先让我来回答你的问题。No，你不可以用 'gone'，你不可以说 I haven't gone to the movies for ages。如果你的意思是“我很长时间都没有去电影院看电影了”，那么正确的表达就是，No, I haven't been to the movies for ages。首先我要提示大家的是 'the movies' 是美式英语，表示电影院；在英式英语里用 cinema。那么今天我们就来重点探讨一下，第一， for ages 这个短语的用法；第二，have been to 和 have gone to 的区别。

Yang Li

For ages 意思是“很长时间以来”。类似短语还有 for months , for years, for a long time. 这些短语都要求句子使用完成时态。请大家听几个句子，两句是正确的；两句是错误的。

Examples

I've been to the movies for months.  

这句话是错误的。

I haven't been to the movies for months.

这句话语法正确，意思是我已经有好几个月没去看电影了。

He's been to Shanghai for years.

这句话是错误的。

He hasn't been to Shanghai for years.

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