I went to the shrine before

hirashin

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8 Apr 2004

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• 2 Oct 2016

• #1

Hello, native English speakers,

I have a question about the usage of the adverb "before".

Would all the sentences be used?
A) I have been to the shrine before.
B) I have visited the shrine before.
C) I went to the shrine before.
D) I visited the shrine before.

Hirashin

 

mdchachi

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6 Mar 2003

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• 3 Oct 2016

• #2

I think these are all acceptable.

 

musicisgood

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4 Sep 2015

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• 3 Oct 2016

• #3

I wonder if you want to use "this" instead of "the" in your sentence.

 

hirashin

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8 Apr 2004

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• #4

Thanks, mdchachi and musicisgood. Would using "this" instead of "the" make more sense?

 

OoTmaster

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23 Oct 2012

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• 3 Oct 2016

• #5

Using "this" instead of "the" would make the sentence more specific. If you had gone to a shrine and you wanted to mean that particular shrine you would use this. For an example, "I went to the store" means that you went to a store not any in particular. "Have you been to this store before?" means you have mentioned a particular store and mean that store.

 

hirashin

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8 Apr 2004

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• 5 Oct 2016

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• #6

Thanks, OoTmaster.