different between "there was" and "there has been"
Do these sentence have the same meaning?

"there was an accident. I hope no one hurt" and
"there has been an accident. I hope no one hurt"

If they do, please help me in discriminating them, when will we use "there was" and when will we use "there has been"?

thanks

Question

different between "there was" and "there has been"
Do these sentence have the same meaning?

"there was an accident. I hope no one hurt" and
 "there has been an accident. I hope no one hurt"

If they do, please help me in discriminating them, when will we use "there was" and when will we use "there has been"?

thanks

Answer

We use simple past (there was) to describe the past, and present perfect (there has been) to describe the present... rather obviously. ;)

The second sentence is incorrect in both examples, so perhaps this rewrite will clarify the difference:

"There was an accident. I hope no one was hurt." (You also need to tell us when the accident happened.)

"There has been an accident. I hope no one is hurt."

Answer

In this context both forms produce a very similar meaning. So I think you can use both.

However.

Was -> usually used when something happened at some time in the past. It could have been an hour ago, a day ago, centuries ago, a billion years ago, but it wasn't just now. 
 
Has been -> usually used when something happened just now.

So in this case you can think the first statement as something happened in the past but not just now.

Answer

there was = past tense
there has been = present tense
The same rules apply as always.

Risposte · 5

Non hai ancora trovato le tue risposte?

Non perdere l'opportunità di imparare una lingua comodamente da casa tua. Esplora la nostra selezione di insegnanti di lingue esperti e iscriviti subito alla tua prima lezione!