'was told' or 'had been told' ? please...

Question

1. I was told about the accident last night. is it correct or incorrect?

2. I had been told about the accident last night. is it correct/incorrect?

3.any difference between 'was told' and 'had been told'? i am confused.. please.. help me...

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Both sentences are fine.  #2 relates the telling to some other, more recent past event that is not mentioned in this sentence.

Gingie · Answer

thanks!! (^_^)..

Ruslana · Answer

Mister Micawber, is the second sentence correct indeed? As far as I know we should use Past Simple if there are such words like yesterday, last week, an hour ago, etc in a sentence. Last night amounts to saying last week, as I understand. Hence, the second sentence seems incorrect to me. Am I wrong?

Mister Micawber · Answer

The sentences as they stand are both grammatically correct. As I said, #2 requires an additional reference to another event outside the sentence, for example:

I had been told about the accident last night. Still, it slipped my mind until you just reminded me.

It is always dangerous to judge the 'correctness' of isolated statements; that is why you will hear me calling for context so often.

Ruslana · Answer

I've got it. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' alt='Emotion: big smile'/> Thank you!

Anonymous · Answer

WE HAD BEEN TOLD THAT THE CARGO WAS PICKED UP BY SOME OTHER FORWARDER........IS THIS SENT CORRECT/INCORRECT PLEASE ADVISE

Tejal · Answer

We reached out to ______ and we have been told to contact you for August payment. Can you please look into it and let us know the updates ASAP. Please see the invoice details as below.

'was told' or 'had been told' ? please...

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