Please help me!!

Question

what is the difference between i was stupid and i have been stupid???

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Anonymouswhat is the difference between i was stupid and i have been stupid???

Both versions seem to suggest that your stupidness is over.

In the first example, using the simple past, without context we would take it to describe a single act of stupidity.

In the second, using the present perfect, it seems to describe a period of past stupidity.

Perhaps this is because of the similarity to the continuous tense.

The main finite verb in both your sentences is "to be," followed by the adjective complement.

"To be" is also the key element in the continuous tense, eg, past continuous, "I was being stupid."

Context could also give a "continuous sense" to the simple past:

In those days, I was very stupid.

- A.

(Please capitalize the first word in the sentence and the personal pronoun "I.")

Anonymous · Answer

Could you tell me if this period of past stupidity is until now??

What is the difference between I was being stupid and I had been stupid???

And the difference between I was in that city and I have been in that city??

Thanks!!

Avangi · Answer

AnonymousCould you tell me if this period of past stupidity is until now??

In the case of present perfect, the general understanding is that the "action" continued up until the very recent present.
Without context, you might allow a little wiggle room on "very recent."

AnonymousWhat is the difference between I was being stupid and I had been stupid???

You have to keep your wits about you when the main finite verb is "to be." You might want to touch bases with a "real" action verb just for comparison.

The past perfect, "I had been stupid," needs a past tense reference, real or implied.

Before my wife divorced me, I had been stupid.

She may have divorced me last week or ten years ago. We'd need some context to pin down the "past event reference."

But it makes no difference in terms of the grammar.

"To be stupid" is also difficult to pin down, because it can refer to a single act, or it can refer to a lasting condition.

Without context, we don't know which it is.

"I was being stupid" is past continuous. (Notice the two separate forms of the verb "to be.")

Again, we don't know how long ago it was, but we know that the condition lasted for an indefinite period of time. That is, this sentence would probably not be used to refer to a single act of stupidity.

Well, I suppose you could say that the "single act" was continuous. I was being stupid. I was being stubborn. .

I don't want to make it too complicated, but neither do I want to make it too simple.

AnonymousAnd the difference between I was in that city and I have been in that city??

Again, we have the being verb as the main finite verb. "Going somewhere" is an act, but is "being somewhere" an act? It could be.

In my opinion, without context, your two examples carry the same meaning. You claim to be a person who has been there in the past -- at least one time, and maybe more.

Please help me!!

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