—Sorry, I posted this as a comment by accident, and its a bit hard to read... so here it is again :D You can use the plain past-tense verb + "ことがありません"　or in plain past-tense verb + "ことがない" to express "not having the experience of" For example: 日本に行ったことがない。 — I've never been to Japan (I've never had the experience of going to Japan) 日本に行ったことがありません。 — I've never been to Japan (I've never had the experience of going to Japan) Formal Of course, you can use the phrase "ことがあります"　(or in plain form) "ことがある" to express "having the experience of" アメリカに行ったことがある。— I have been to America before (I've had the experience of going to America before) アメリカにいったことがあります。— I have been to America before (I've had the experience of going to America before) Formal. Here is a link that goes into this grammar more in-depth: http://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-grammar-experience.html

You can use the plain past-tense verb + "ことがありません"　or in plain past-tense verb + "ことがない" to express "not having the experience of" For example: 日本に行ったことがない — I've never been to Japan (I've never had the experience of going to Japan) 日本に行ったことがありません — I've never been to Japan (I've never had the experience of going to Japan) Formal Of course, you can use the phrase "ことがあります"　(or in plain form) "ことがある" to express "having the experience of" アメリカに行ったことがある。— I have been to America before (I've had the experience of going to America before) アメリカにいったことがあります。— I have been to America before (I've had the experience of going to America before) Formal. Here is a link that goes into this grammar more in-depth: http://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-grammar-experience.html