What is the difference between I WAS there and I HAD BEEN there | Go Natural English

Hey there!

How's it going?

Welcome to Go Natural English.

In this English tip episode, I'm going to answer a question from a Go Natural English

community member named Chetan.

Chetan asked, "What is the difference between "I was there" and I had been there?"

That's an awesome question, Chetan.

I'm happy to help you with it.

Now, this is a grammar question and I want us to take a big picture view on this very

detailed question.

I think, before I even talk about what is the difference between "I was there" and "I

had been there", it's really more important to think about the whole picture of English

conversation and ask ourselves a different question, which is, "Do people even use these

tenses?"

What is most common when I want to speak with native English speakers?

What am I going to need to know and what do I want to use?

Now Chetan, if you're preparing for an English grammar test, then you're going to want to

know the details about both grammar tenses.

But, if you, and like most of the Go Natural English audience wants to have excellent conversational

skills for the real world in English, then you need to know that we really only use one

of these tenses which is, "I was there" ... the simple past.

We use the simple past the most out of any past tense and we don't really use "I had

been there" very often.

In fact, I think this tense is dying out.

I think this tense is only kept alive by English grammar tests.

So, first of all, focus on using the simple past tense to describe actions that happened

in the past.

Now to answer your question more specifically about the difference between "I was there"

and "I had been there", think about "I had been there" as happening before something

in the past.

So, you have "I was there", right?

Let's say, "I was in Paris in 2009 and I had been there before, in 2005."

So, I'm describing something that happened before something else in the past.

Two events -- a sequence ... first, second, that happened in the past, but "had been"

is something that happened before "was."

OK?

So, that is the quick and easy answer.

Now remember to focus for conversation on the simple past, not the past perfect ... we

don't use it very much, and what I really recommend to get that big picture view of

English conversation and how we actually use grammar in real life is to use English with

a native speaker, with other fluent English speakers.

A great way to do that is to get online and practice one-on-one with a qualified English

teacher.

My friends at Verbling have great teachers.

I actually have a couple of friends who teach over there and they're awesome at helping

you understand real, natural, native conversation in English.

So, to learn more about how you can improve your conversational skills, and never have

to worry about these details of grammar again, come over to gonaturalenglish.com/verbling

to learn more about Verbling one-on-one English lessons.

And, if you come over to my website, I'd love to give you a free eBook guide that will help

you with your English fluency.

So, come visit gonaturalenglish.com and you'll see exactly how you can get your eBook right

away.

Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you soon in another English tip here on YouTube.

Make sure to subscribe if you haven't yet, and watch another video while you're at it

if you have another couple minutes.

Alright, thanks so much.

I'll talk to you soon.

Bye for now.