# EN: I have been in/to France for one week



## jack2tianjin

Je me suis toujours demandé
"I have been in France for one week"

cela veut dire :

je suis allé en France 1 semaine.
(j'hésite a dire i went to France for 1 week) mais on m'avait dit à l'école d'utiliser for et since seulement avec present perfect.?


je suis en France depuis 1 semaine. 
(je suis sur)


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## dratuor

jack2tianjin said:


> Je me suis toujours demandé
> "I have been in France for one week"
> 
> cela veut dire :
> 
> je suis allé en France 1 semaine.
> (j'hésite a dire i went to France for 1 week) mais on m'avait dit à l'école d'utiliser for et since seulement avec present perfect.?
> 
> 
> je suis en France depuis 1 semaine.
> (je suis sur)




Present perfect implique un lien avec le présent:

I have been in France for 1 week --> Je suis en France depuis une semaine.

I went to France for a week <==> I spent 1 week in France = je suis allé en France une semaine


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## geostan

dratuor said:


> I went to France for a week <==> I spent 1 week in France = je suis allé en France une semaine



Does one really say this with that meaning? It sounds odd. I would have thought _J'ai passé une semaine en France_ would be the usual form.


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## dratuor

geostan said:


> Does one really say this with that meaning? It sounds odd. I would have thought _J'ai passé une semaine en France_ would be the usual form.



Yes you are right, it is poor phrasing I wrotte it a little to fast. But when it is your mother tongue you happen to use poor sentence like this 

your proposal is way better but my ponit was th grammar but I should pay more attention!


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## jack2tianjin

la réponse n'est pas claire?
pour dire je suis allé en France 1 semaine
on dit I went to France for 1 week
or I have been to France for one week


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## Maham

^ I went to France for one week.

Si tu dis: I have been to France for one week (tu es encore en France) (= ça fait une semaine que je suis en France ou je suis en France depuis une semaine).


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## jack2tianjin

ok merci 
et puis-je dire I have been to France et I have been in France
c'est pareil?


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## geostan

Sure. _I've been to France_ is simply another way of saying _I've gone to France._


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## dratuor

jack2tianjin said:


> ok merci
> et puis-je dire I have been to France et I have been in France
> c'est pareil?



you can sy both but they aren't the same:

I have been to France once --> je suis allé en France une fois
I have been in France for years now --> cela fait des années que je suis en France.


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## Maham

A mon avis ..

Tu dis:

I have been to France for one week (quand tu indiques la durée).  
I have been in France since last monday (quand tu indiques le temps d'arrivée).


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## geostan

The bottom line is :

I've been to France (You are not in France when you say this)
I've been in France (You are in France at the time you say it)


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## jack2tianjin

ok, j'ai compris, je demande une dernière petite chose

on dit plutôt
==> I have been *to *France for 2 years =  je suis allé en France pendant 2 ans ( dans le sens j'ai habité en France 2 ans) ?

ou

==> i went to France for 2 years ?


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## Maham

Moi, je dirais ...

I went to France for two years.


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## jack2tianjin

Merci Maham mais est ce que un native speaker pourrait confirmer?


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## geostan

Of the two, I would also say _I went to France for 2 years._


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## The Prof

jack2tianjin said:


> ok, j'ai compris, je demande une dernière petite chose
> 
> on dit plutôt
> ==> I have been *to *France for 2 years = je suis allé en France pendant 2 ans ( dans le sens j'ai habité en France 2 ans) ?
> 
> ou
> 
> ==> i went to France for 2 years ?


 
You can say _either_ "I went to France for 2 years" or "I was in France for 2 years".
Which would be best can depend on the context in which it is used, but in most cases you could use either!
You could also use "I have been to / in France for 2 years" if you have just returned home. For example, if you have just got back home and someone says "_I haven't seen you for ages'_, you might use this sentence to explain why you haven't been around!


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## jack2tianjin

thanks Geostan
thanks The Prof
the explanation is very clear!


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## syed2011

I went France for a week.

Or i was in France for one week.


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## Jack B.

Here are all the options that come to mind:

"I spent a week (a month)(2 years) in France" : J'ai passé une semaine... en France.

"I only stayed in France for a week (a month)(2 years)" : Je n'ai passé qu'une semaine ... en France

"I just came back from a week (a month)(2 years) in France" : Je viens de passer une semaine... en France

"I've only been in France for a week (a month)" : Je ne suis en France que depuis une semaine (un mois)

"I've been living in France for a year (or two)" : Ca fait un an (ou deux) que je suis en France

Grammar is good, but syntax says it all.


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## The Prof

Jack B. said:


> Here are all the options that come to mind:
> 
> "I spent a week (a month)(2 years) in France" : J'ai passé une semaine... en France.
> 
> "I only stayed in France for a week (a month)(2 years)" : Je n'ai passé qu'une semaine ... en France
> 
> "I just came back from a week (a month)(2 years) in France" : Je viens de passer une semaine... en France
> 
> "I've only been in France for a week (a month)" : Je ne suis en France que depuis une semaine (un mois)
> 
> "I've been living in France for a year (or two)" : Ca fait un an (ou deux) que je suis en France
> 
> Grammar is good, but syntax says it all.


 
Hello Jack, and welcome to the forum. 

Just a word of caution on the sentence that I have highlighted: as a British English speaker, I would use the present perfect in that context and say "_I have just come / got back_ ... ". But my French translation of it would be exactly the same as yours. 

I know that the past simple is widely used on the other side of the Atlantic in this very context so I'm not trying to start any argument here -I just wanted to point out the difference.


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## jack2tianjin

thanks Jack B
thanks The Prof

very interesting!!!!

thanks everybody for having helped me to understand !


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## jack2tianjin

bonjour tout le monde
j'ai bien assimilé toutes ces différences
merci à tout le monde

Mais je me demandais quelque chose encore.
Est ce exacte grammaticalement d'utiliser la préposition for

dans la phrase I went to France *for *2 weeks 
?


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## jann

jack2tianjin said:


> Est ce exacte grammaticalement d'utiliser la préposition for dans la phrase I went to France *for *2 weeks ?


Si par cela vous comprenez que vous avez passé 2 semaines en France, que vous êtes allé en France pendant 2 semaines.... alors oui, absolument. C'est même la seule préposition qui convienne dans la phrase telle que vous l'avez écrite.


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## jack2tianjin

jann said:


> Si par cela vous comprenez que vous avez passé 2 semaines en France, que vous êtes allé en France pendant 2 semaines.... alors oui, absolument. C'est même la seule préposition qui convienne dans la phrase telle que vous l'avez écrite.




ok merci beaucoup


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