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i have been busy last week vs I was busy last week

The sentence 'I was busy last week' is correct. The past simple tense of 'was' is appropriate when referring to a specific time in the past, such as last week. 'I have been busy last week' is incorrect because the present perfect continuous tense 'have been' is not correct for a specific past time reference like 'last week.'
Michele A. profile picture

Explained by Michele A.
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: August 03, 2024 • 36386 views

i have been busy last week

This phrase is incorrect. The present perfect continuous tense 'have been' is not appropriate for a specific past time reference like 'last week.'

Avoid using the present perfect continuous tense for specific past time references. Instead, use the past simple tense to describe actions or states that occurred at a definite point in the past.
  • Jan 26, 2018 ... What is the difference between " I have been busy last week" and " I was busy last week"? The present perfect tense is used only with action ...
  • Feb 26, 2018 ... I have been busy last week making cigar rollers . I have worked hard and put a lot of time into making a flat style table top roller . It took ...
  • May 9, 2020 ... I have been busy last week. I was busy last week. This is the simple past tense of to be. You can use either one. The only subtle difference ...
  • Apr 18, 2024 ... I have been busy! Last week I traveled to NY to be honored amongst my peers as a 2024 Fashion Scholarship Fund recipient, in addition to ...
  • Apr 5, 2021 ... The present perfect tense is used only with action verbs, so the first sentence, I have been busy last week is ungrammatical. This tense is ...
  • Dec 1, 2009 ... I have been busy last week. But sadly not with forward kommander, RL played up and I did some fun stuff. Tomorrow or the day after I hope to ...
  • Dec 6, 2018 ... What is the difference between " I have been busy last week" and " I was busy last week"? The present perfect tense is used only with action ...
  • Jun 14, 2020 ... So i have been busy last week and this is it at the moment. Did some laps with it incl some races and i must say it feels really good. Not gonna ...
  • Mar 29, 2020 ... I have been busy last week and as you know the blog comes second to paying work. I saw this on my YouTube subscription feed… Continue ...
  • Oct 29, 2022 ... ... I have been busy last week and honestly forgot this is the week Kaguya releases the last chapter. Thanks Reddit for this community and r ...

I was busy last week

This phrase is correct. The past simple tense 'was' is suitable for referring to a specific time in the past, such as 'last week.'

Use the past simple tense to describe actions or states that occurred at a definite point in the past, like 'last week.'
  • May 9, 2020 ... I was busy last week. This is the simple past tense of to be. You can use either one. The only subtle difference is that with ...
  • Aug 12, 2024 ... While I was busy last week, I also got ahold of this letter pretty sharply worded letter @Okla_OAG sent OSDE last month, in reference to a ...
  • Jan 26, 2018 ... Thank you for A2A. I would not use either sentence. I would say: I was busy last week, or. I have been ...
  • Jan 30, 2023 ... Gen 9 UU memes except I was busy last week. (Ft. Notorious N.O. I. ...
  • May 19, 2024 ... I was busy last week and neglected to post a pic in uniform in support of #NationalPoliceWeek. So, here's five of them!
  • 7 days ago ... I was busy last week so I drew this thing · Comments Section · Community Info Section · More posts you may like.
  • Sep 19, 2024 ... I was busy last week lamba, I am back now and my stories are in review. Thank you for your concern, so sweet of you ...
  • Jun 28, 2021 ... Happy MC Monday! Hopping onto the Artbreeder trend since I was busy last week lol here's how I imagine my MC, Autumn van Büren, would look like.
  • May 23, 2018 ... Hi, I got your voicemail but I was busy last week. The issue we are having is once connected to wifi the connection drops after 5-10 minutes ...
  • I was busy last week at my very own quilt guild's quilt show. Riverwalk Quilters Guild always pulls out the stops and this year was no exception! Set up ...

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