diferrence between had been and have been?

Question

what is the difference in the meaning between "I have never been there before " and "I had never been there before"

Answer 1

I have never been there before: the "never being there" started in the past and is still true in the present. Using "before" very strongly suggests that you have a current plan to go.

"I'm excited to be going to Greece. I've never been there before!" vs. "You're so lucky to go to Greece. I've never been there."

"I had never been there before": the "never being there" was true up until a certain point in the past, then you went. The "before", again, means YOU went there "after"

"I had a wonderful time in Greece. I had never been there before." vs "I wanted to hear all about her trip to Greece. I had never been there."

Answer 2

have been is present perfect
had been is past perfect

use have been if you are talking about an event that still has relevance in the present

I have been a student for 2 years (you are still a student)

use had been if the event belongs to the past and it happens before another past event

I had been a student for two years when I met John (you are not a student anymore and you were a student before you met John)

I have never been there before means that so far in your life you have not visited that place, but you still have a chance to do it.

I had never been there before is something you would say after you have actually been to that place. When using past perfect you always need a reference to another past time, as in "I FELT excited because I HAD never BEEN there before"

Answer 3

The first is if you are speaking in the present tense and talking about a completed action and the second, i.e. "I had..." is for when you are telling something in the past tense and explaining that whatever it is had already happened at the time of your narrative -- i.e. was even further back in the past. It's called the pluperfect.

Answer 4

Had never been there...would probably be used to indicate the sequence of events. ie when u have two actions in the past and want to say which happended first, use had been rather than have been to indicate the "first" action.

e.g He told me about Egypt, but I had never been there before.

A simpler e.g.

I had finished cleaning up my room when you came.

I finished cleaning THEN you came.

Answer 5

They differ by tense.

"Had been" is past perfect while "have been" (plural of "has been") is present perfect.

The present perfect tense refers to an action that has been happening since before up to the present.

For example, "I have never been to the Philippines."
The speaker conveys that he or she was unable to go to the Philippines even before.

The past perfect tense uses another event for comparison.
For example, "I had never been to the Philippines before the convention."
The speaker conveys that he or she had only been able to go to the Philippines because of the convention.

Another, "I had never eaten durian until yesterday."
In this sentence, it was only until yesterday that the speaker has eaten durian. He or she has never had before "yesterday" (as referred in the sentence).

I hope I've helped!

Answer 6

It's a verb tense thing. Search my source for the phrase "had been" to find the section with a thorough explanation of which to use when. :)

Answer 7

In the first case; you still haven't been there yet

In the second case: you had never been there, but now you have

Answer 8

I can't tell the difference.. So to be safe.. you should say, I've had never been there before.