TextRanch

The best way to perfect your writing.

Discover why 1,062,726 users count on TextRanch to get their English corrected!

1. Input your text below.
2. Get it corrected in a few minutes by our editors.
3. Improve your English!

One of our experts will correct your English.

I have been a student vs I was a student

Both sentences are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'I have been a student' is used to indicate that the speaker has been a student at some point in their life. 'I was a student' is used to talk about a past period when the speaker was a student, without any implication about the present.

Explained by Vince
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: July 16, 2024 • 46583 views

I have been a student

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate that the person has been a student for a period of time up to the present moment.

This phrase is used to emphasize the continuity of the experience of being a student up to the present moment.

Examples:

I have been a student for five years.
She has been a student at this university since 2010.

Show examples from the web [+]
Last updated: October 24, 2024

Jun 16, 2022 ... I have been a student of the history of Utah tech since I started my first company in 2003. I was fascinated to learn the stories and meet the people that ...
Nov 30, 2020 ... All my life I have been a student of war, studying the great conquerors from Charlemagne to Achilles, from Alexander to the Great Napoleon, ...
I have been a Student of the Subject of Life – by Angela from Spain. VOLUNTEER IN KENYA: My name is Ángela, a 28 year old Spanish girl and nursery teacher in ...
"I have been a student of fitness for MANY years. I have been active in weightlifting and competitive brazilian jiu jitsu, for MANY years. I have NEVER...
Dec 3, 2016 ... Since 2012, I have been a student of a full contact form of traditional Karate called Traditional Tsuyoi Ryu. I am following paths to ...
Nov 17, 2023 ... I have been a student of the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since I was an undergraduate at Yale in the early 1980s. […]
Apr 7, 2022 ... The sentence should be either: “I have been a student of this school for five years,” (present perfect tense) or “I was a student of this school for five years ...
Apr 16, 2018 ... My name is Olivia Sanchez, and I am a senior at the University of Portland. I have been a student-athlete on The Bluff for three years, ...
Jul 25, 2023 ... I have been a student at Shivangini Academy for the past 13 years and am beyond excited for the silver jubilee of our school!

Alternatives:

I have studied as a student.
I have been attending classes as a student.

I was a student

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to talk about a past period when the person was a student.

This phrase is used to refer to a specific time in the past when the person was a student, without any implication about the present.

Examples:

I was a student at that school when I was younger.
She was a student before she started working.

Show examples from the web [+]
Last updated: October 24, 2024

Jun 14, 2019 ... I worked at @McDonalds when I was a student, doing french fries and ice cream. There wasn't a family relying on me to pay the bills — but ...
Jun 30, 2023 ... "Yo fui estudiante de música" should mean "I was a student of music". "Yo estudié música" will translate to "I studied music".
Feb 27, 2024 ... 20 years ago this month I was a student at Christ For The Nations Bible school. The day before the live recording my leaders asked me if I ...
Jun 2, 2021 ... 'When I was a student of Fanon': an interview with Frej Stambouli · In an interview with ROAPE, the Tunisian sociologist, Frej Stambouli, ...
5 days ago ... When I was a student in grad school, the business school Deans made a point of declaring a simple objective: landing fresh graduates into ...
Oct 9, 2023 ... Opinion: I was a student election worker, and you can be too. Students across the state of California can sign up to become Student Election ...
Sep 25, 2013 ... I was a student at HHS, walking the halls with a backpack and laughing at my locker with my friends (yes back then we were smart and still utilized lockers.
Mar 4, 2024 ... 28K likes, 342 comments - cardboardsea on March 4, 2024: "When I was a student in college and first exploring Cleveland, I loved every ...
Nov 24, 2021 ... “I Was A Student – I'm Also An Educator”. By Guest Author: Will Parker. BOTTOM-LINE UP FRONT (BLUF):. Nothing in this article is to disparage an ...
Jun 14, 2019 ... 28K likes, 517 comments - kamalaharris a June 14, 2019: "I worked at @mcdonalds when I was a student, doing french fries and ice cream.

Alternatives:

I used to be a student.
I studied as a student.

Related Comparisons

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

Why choose TextRanch?

Lowest prices
Up to 50% lower than other online editing sites.

Fastest Times
Our team of editors is working for you 24/7.

Qualified Editors
Native English experts for UK or US English.

Top Customer Service
We are here to help. Satisfaction guaranteed!