〜たことがある have done before (experience): Meaning & Examples

How 〜たことがある works

Attach it to the plain past (た-form) of a verb: 日本に行ったことがある is "I have been to Japan." The negative 〜たことがない means "have never done." Unlike the simple past, which reports one specific event, 〜たことがある is about whether you have ever had the experience at all.

構文こうぶんConstruction

• Verb (た-form) + ことがある

  富士山に登ったことがある。 — I have climbed Mt. Fuji before.

• Verb (た-form) + ことがない (negative)

  納豆を食べたことがない。 — I have never eaten natto.

• Polite: Verb (た-form) + ことがあります／ありません

  京都に行ったことがありますか。 — Have you ever been to Kyoto?

例文れいぶんIn a sentence

注意点ちゅういてんNuances

• "Last week I went to Osaka" is simple past (先週大阪に行った), not 行ったことがある.
• It sounds unnatural for very recent events — 昨日食べたことがある is wrong. Reserve it for things far enough back to count as "an experience."
• The た is what carries the "experience" meaning: dictionary form + ことがある instead means "(it) sometimes happens" (遅れることがある — "I am sometimes late").
• 〜たことがありますか is the standard way to ask "Have you ever…?" — answer with あります or ありません(ないです).

練習れんしゅうYour Turn

Tip

Tell a friend one thing you have done before and one thing you have never done, using 〜たことがある and 〜たことがない.

〜たことがある (have done before (experience)) in real sentences

Each one is quoted from a published Japanese text in this library and links to the story it came from. Some use older spellings, or break off where the sentence carried on. They are transcribed exactly as their authors wrote them.

Appears in 17 of 367 texts in our library.