have been once vs have once been

Both phrases are correct, but they're used in different contexts. "Have been once" emphasizes the specific time or occasion when something happened, while "have once been" indicates something happened at some point in the past without specifying the exact time.

Explained by Miss E.
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: March 03, 2025 • 5694 views

This phrase is correct and is used to emphasize the specific time or occasion when something happened.

"have been once"

This phrase is used when you want to highlight a particular time or occasion in the past when an action or event occurred.

Examples:

I have been to Paris once.
She has been to that restaurant once before.
He has been late to work once this month.
Have you been to that museum once?
They have been on vacation once this year.

Show examples from the web [+]

What might have been once is all behind.
Whatever Apollo might have been once upon a time...
We have been once more in the same room.
He claimed as you do, to have been once a retainer of the Fukushima clan.
I have crossed the Atlantic four times and I have been once to the East Indies, and to different places around home.
And with this serenity within us that we are at home, happy to have been once again witnessed of the magic of Angelo. A hug to all,
I might have been once, but I'm not anymore.
This must have been beautiful once.
I may have been there once, when the building opened.
It must have been impressive once.
I have been here once or twice before.
Sometimes it feels scary still being on my you and I have been here once before.
Whatever qualities she saw in you must surely have been virtuous once.
You must have been one once, Pythagoras - think back.
I feel I have been misled once by Germany.
Almost every one of these guys have been hit once.
She could have been you once, before all the hair and makeup.
This will remind you that I have been here once, and can return.
We just destroyed what could have been a once-in-a-lifetime shot at happiness.
We should probably not imagine that we shall one day become completely free from risk or that this battle will have been won once and for all.

Alternatives:

have once been
have been there once
have visited once
have experienced once
have gone once

This phrase is correct and is used to indicate that something happened at some point in the past without specifying the exact time.

"have once been"

This phrase is used when you want to convey that an action or event occurred at some unspecified time in the past.

Examples:

I have once been to Japan.
She has once been a teacher.
He has once been in trouble with the law.
Have you once been to a concert?
They have once been friends.

Show examples from the web [+]

Could she be, or have once been...
Surely there must have once been something, even someone you held close to your heart.
Every day, large quantities of food that could have once been consumed (or have other use) are being wasted.
Buying mismatched parts would mean a wasteful expenditure since some dealers adhere to very strict exchange policies and donæŠº readily want to exchange the parts that have once been sold.
They may have once been converted and received a new mind but, sadly, they had turned back to the old mind and begun to love this world again.
Those who have once been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.
Closer to home, our own Sun, orbiting in solitude... may have once been part of an open-cluster star... that struck out on its own.
A purposeful plan was functioning throughout all of these seemingly strange evolutions of living things, but we are not allowed arbitrarily to interfere with the development of the life patterns after they have once been set in operation.
I have never once been issued a subpoena.
I have never once been to this part of Pawnee.
Now there have once again been demonstrations and incidents.
With his departure, however, political decisions have once more been taken in Slovakia which give us cause for concern.
Zambia, Malawi, and neighbouring countries have once again been affected by heavy flooding.
Peace and order have once again been restored to Gotham.
I have never once been invited to have cereal with Mrs. Vartabedian.
The dissidents who have put up opposition have never once been honoured with the Sakharov Prize in five years.
The bilateral agreements of Melk and Brussels have once again been violated by unauthorised action.
The failure to do so will be a clear signal that repeated international calls for judicial independence and respect for democratic norms in Peru have once again been ignored.
I hope that the foundations have once again been laid for a further constructive debate on this extremely important subject next year.
As regards the important issue of economic and financial policy, the statements made by the Italian Presidency so far have once again been contradictory.

Alternatives:

have been once
have been there once
have visited once
have experienced once
have gone once

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have been once vs have once been

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