My friend asks me: Did you just get back? Can you say this: I've been back. I got

[B45]

My friend asks me: Did you just get back?

Can you say this:

I've been back. I got back a week ago.

VS

I've been back for a couple weeks.

Are both okay?

 

[probus]

The second is perfectly natural and the first is not.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I agree about the second. The first would be fine with the emphasis on "been".

 

[B45]

What do you mean by emphasis on been?

 

[MikeNewYork]

You stress the word. I've BEEN back.

 

[B45]

That's exactly what I did!

 

[MikeNewYork]

That's good!

 

[emsr2d2]

"I've been back" would be fine as a standalone response to something like "Will you go back to your hometown one day?" but it doesn't work as a response to "Did you just get back?" unless it's followed, as in response 2, by a time period.

 

[B45]

But MikeNewYork says it's okay... So, I don't know what's going no?

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, to put it simply, I disagree with MikeNewYork on this occasion.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Batman, we don't always agree with one another. Some of us speak AmE and some speak BrE and even other varieties of English.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

And while we're on the subject, in BrE we say, 'a couple of weeks'.

 

[emsr2d2]

I missed that in the original. Another difference between AmE and BrE I think. In BrE, whenever we use "a couple" and follow it with a noun, they are always separated by "of".

I will be there in a couple of days.
I've been back a couple of weeks.
I have a couple of apples.
Do you have a couple of quid you could lend me? (Note: "quid" is a slang/non-standard word for "pound" (money) in BrE.)

 

[MikeNewYork]

I usually use "of" there as well.