Have you ever been to America? or Did you ever visit America?

[Fedorov]

Which sentense is correct or most commonly used:
1. Have you ever been to America?
2. Have you ever been in America?
3. Did you ever visit America?
4. How many times have you been to America?
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Help me to improve my English, please. You'll get better company then ;-)

[Fedorov]

If you wanna know why do I ask this perhaps fishy question, here is an explanation. Do you remember this little poem?

- Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat,
Where have you been?
- I have been to London
To look at the Queen.

So, once I've asked one American:
- How many times have you been to Ukraine?
He seemed to be very confused with this question for a while, but I don't know the real reason of that, whether it was because of an incorrect question or because it was difficult for him to recall the answer. So, It's now my turn to be a little bit confused :(
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[Jamie (K)]

[Natasha81]

Privet, bit'sya ob zaklad ne budy, no v moem shkolnom uchebnike bylo napisano ,chto Have been in eto amerikanizm. Esli ty eshe v Rossii ili Ukraine, to uchebnik nazyvaetsya Happy English 2, on zelenyi takoi. Tak vot tam v nchale byl dialog s etimi poyasneniyami. Ya tochno pomnyu, chto tak bylo napisano, no pravilno eto ili net, ya teper ne znayu, tk amerikanest naverhu napisal, chto oni tak ne govoryat. Hotay on mozhet byt takoiz he amerikanest kak ty i ya. Ya domoi edu cherz mesyat iz prinsipa posmotryu v uchebnike!!! :):) Mozhet ehse kto napishet:):)
Natasha

[Fedorov]

Thank both of you for your deep and exhaustive answers :D :D :D
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[Someone]

Jamie, you are absolutely right. My wife once wanted to ask a finnish guy whether he has a car. She asked him five times or more before he got the point. The reason is her way of pronunciation of the car. She said it as [ka] not [ka:].
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[Jan]

That is precisely the reason why English shall be banned for ever from international
relations.English has no sense because of so tiny, silly, almost unrecognisable differences.
English is bad.
Esperanto is good.

Jan

[Jamie (K)]

[Jamie (K)]

[Jan]

I am out of Esperanto society and I have no clue about Esperanto and English as well. I know that as long as money & power exist among us Esperanto
never will have any chance.
We will have war after war crisis after crisis until the blessed end most probably without
freedom and justice but with a lot of regrets about passed years.
Happy to live even without good hopes for future. :D
Jan

[Fedorov]

This conversation has been shifted to a very dramatic and unexpected plane :? . Most likely, the problem is much more simple. The American was lost in his thought, and I've interrupted him suddenly with my question. That's the most plausible explanation, I suppose :) .
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[Yemen1]

hello
I nivite you become friends

[Jan]

I would be afraid that native English speakers are quite often entirely lost while under conversation with foreigners, so often they are lost that it becomes to be chronic symptom of English dialogues.

Jan

[Fedorov]

No such a thing, my friend :D . Everyone has a right to be plunged into his thoughts, or to dream, or to be concerned with some private problems etc. Very often this shows that the person isn't quite shallow. Anyway, this American, Antonio, is a wonderful guy.
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