had been different vs have been different

Both "had been different" and "have been different" are correct, but they are used in different contexts. "Had been different" is used to talk about a past situation that has changed, while "have been different" is used to talk about a present situation that has changed or a situation that started in the past and continues into the present.

Last updated: March 30, 2024 • 1999 views

had been different

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to talk about a past situation that has changed.

Use "had been different" when referring to a past situation that was not the same as it is now. It indicates a change that occurred in the past.

Examples:

The weather had been different when we arrived.
Her attitude had been different before the incident.

Show examples from the web [+]

We would have been the closest of brothers... if things had been different.
The funny thing is... I'd probably have never met him if things had been different.
What if things had been different...?
"that I never stop thinking of you."How I wish things had been different.
I always thought that if things had been different, we'd have been good friends.
entities are not required to determine what the profit or loss for the period would have been if relevant risk variables had been different.
If things had been different... if you had been a little older
If the rules had been different, we would have acted differently.
I might have loved you once, if things had been different.
I wish it had been different.
Ryan, I understand Marissa's expulsion seemed terribly unfair to you, and frankly, I wish the outcome had been different myself.
If my life had been different, right?
I can't help blaming myself and wishing things had been different.
But the older boy, Billy, had been different right from the start.
Where she'd liked to have lived if her life had been different.
As Mr Cushnahan has remarked in his report on the election monitoring, there are a number of things in connection with the election in Pakistan that one might have wished had been different.
This means that, if the provisions of the general management contract had been different, the figures in the land-lease and sale contract would have changed as well, and vice versa [51].
The sad fact remains that the directive I referred to earlier, which was adopted in 1993, does not give the Commission a sufficient legal basis for infringement proceedings which might have been available to the Commission if the legal situation had been different.
If things had been different.
These offices had different procedures because there had been different experiences in the different voivodships.

Alternatives:

was different
used to be different
had changed
had been altered

have been different

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to talk about a present situation that has changed or a situation that started in the past and continues into the present.

Use "have been different" when referring to a present situation that is not the same as it was before or when describing a situation that began in the past and is still true in the present.

Examples:

Things have been different since she left.
Our relationship has been different ever since that argument.

Show examples from the web [+]

Nothing. Only that our whole lives might have been different if only I had acted.
You know, I keep thinking if it was not for Orli, things would have been different.
Things have been different since I met Hildy.
Anyway, things have been different...
It might have been different if the Province of Burgenland had granted a commercial guarantee, as a private investor and not as state aid.
You asked me if things might have been different if I had come to you with an open heart.
Secondly, we have until now - although the past two years or so have been different - always assumed that there is zero tolerance for any error.
Were I a tribesman in the Kalahari, the location would have been different.
If he'd had once decent role model, things might have been different.
My life would have been different without you kids around.
It must have been different in my grandfather's time.
I regret to say that I wish things could have been different.
With lawmen it would have been different.
How it would have been different if I'd been a better parent.
Since 2003, there have been different schedules of charges at Schönefeld.
If the Council had followed his directions, the basic conditions would have been different now.
But yesterday would have been different.
It would have been different with the Goslars.
Besides, all the kills have been different.
If you had shown some discretion, it might have been different.

Alternatives:

are different
have changed
have been altered
have been modified

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had been different vs have been different