Q Il a été en France A He’s been to France

Question

I did a small double take with this question because the English "He’s been to" is a past form of "he goes to" not "he is ". You can say "he was in France" but with a slightly different sense, more vague and without any emphasis on the going (UK English ). Perhaps this is my blind spot, but it isn’t a French construction I’d met before so I’d like to know if it’s a. common and b. idiomatic /informal?

(Apologies for reposting this question from a week ago: it’s gone from Q and A and wasn’t answered. Maybe the Helpdesk removed the post because I queried a similar sentence "On a été faire les courses = We went shopping" in a passé composé exercise.)

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Anne,
'On a été' is more colloquial than 'on est allés' but is used frequently in every day French. They are both equivalent in meaning but the use of ‘aller’ is deemed more correct speech.
I suspect the example was used because the verb être which is verb of state is rarely used in the passé composé as it implies a finished action.
"J’ai été malade pendant le week-end "would be "I was ill during the weekend", indicating that you are better now.
Hope this helps !

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Bonjour Anne,Your question was removed as I was told that you had had an answer via the helpdesk and that you said we could remove it from the Q&A.Do you still require an answer?

Anne Davies · Answer

Yes I’d like to understand how common it is to use "j’ai été en/à" + quelque part to mean "I have been to", whether it’s an informal construction and when to use it rather than aller. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear before.