been to v. gone to

[Lost_Soul]

Hi,

I have a question about changing direct speech into indirect speech:

The sentence: I went to Tailand last week
How should it be put in reported speech:

1 I told him that I'd been to Tailand the previous week IMO this should be right, but I'm having my doubts
2 I told him that I'd gone to Tailand the previous week

Thanks !

[Alan]

Hi Alex,

A very interesting question if I may say so. To me 'I'd gone' is' if you like, the copy book answer that would get the correct tick from teacher - 'went' becomes 'had gone' and 'last week' becomes 'the previous week'. 'I'd been' adds I think another dimension because it suggests that you visited the place rather than simply going there and if used in a reported speech context would indicate that the speaker is talking about what 'I' did in connection with what was talked about at the time. Imagine the direct speech: He said: I was in Thailand last week as a matter of interest since you were talking about Bangkok.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Sureshvemuri]

I am sorry.
The name of the country should be Thailand.
Maybe, that is typing error.

[Yankee]