hi can u help me?

Question

hi

i have too many questions related to English grammar where i feel im really weak and i hope you help me, although what i feel they are so silly questions but to let you know that English language is the second language in my country.

1. Whats the difference between "I was told'' and I have been told ?

2. Whats the difference betweenI gave him 10 Dollars and ''I have given him 10 Dollars"?

Thank you

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Oh boy! I get to be the first person to say "Welcome!"

Your questions aren't at all silly - if it helps you feel better, I couldn't even ASK a question so coherently in any other language besides my own.

1. "I was told" You were told something once, in the past. (And you know it's not a complete sentence, right? You were told something... to wait here, that silence is golden, that diamonds are forever. Whatever. You need to have been told something.) But "I have been told" implies that whatever it was you were told was said to you repeatedly over time. "I have been told that I have a nice smile" generally means that I have heard it more than once.

2. As a matter of logic, there is little difference, unless you want to show that the action was repeated. If it happend only once, then either is fine. But if it's an ongoing action "I have given him $10 as an allowance every Friday for the past two years." I you put that in the simple past "I gave him $10 every Friday" you are saying that you are no longer doing so. The action is past, not ongoing.

hi can u help me?

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