i was working vs I've been working

Both "I was working" and "I've been working" are correct, but they are used in different contexts. "I was working" is used to talk about a specific past action that happened at a particular time in the past. On the other hand, "I've been working" is used to talk about an action that started in the past and is still continuing or has just been completed.

Last updated: March 31, 2024 • 1057 views

i was working

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to talk about a specific past action that happened at a particular time in the past.

Use "I was working" to describe an action that occurred at a specific time in the past. It indicates that the action was ongoing at that time.

Examples:

I was working on my project when you called.
She was working at the office yesterday.
They were working on the assignment all night.

Show examples from the web [+]
Last updated: November 09, 2024

Feb 2, 2016 ... "I worked today" means that the person is now done working but worked earlier in the day. "I was working today" might mean the same thing ...
Jun 11, 2024 ... I lost some updates on the files I was working with, after a computer crash.
I Was Working: Poems. Ariel Yelen. A remarkable book of poems that ... It wasn't / okay, thus my work flourished.” Despite such discontents, I Was Working ...
2 days ago ... Back when I was working at Taco Bell, I was able to attend my first food shoot. Because of that and working in advertising for many years, ...
Jun 30, 2024 ... Just now, i was working on a REF of a character I made. I'm not too familiar with FireAlpaca since I recently downloaded it and this was the ...
Sep 12, 2023 ... The recent section never shows 'recent' files. I can never find the files I was working on yesterday or day before. I would like the recent ...
Jul 29, 2024 ... Iron Warriors Gloriana I was working on b4 someone broke into my house and stole my pc (no backups sadly).... Idk if i`ll ever try making ...
Mar 23, 2019 ... My Draft email disappeared while I was working on it. Please HELP! I was composing my draft email. It had been saved at various times. It ...
Jan 25, 2024 ... RescueTime sent me an unwanted notification while I was working ... Rescue Time sent me a notification just now inviting me to a “guided focus ...
Feb 13, 2024 ... One told that it is incorrect because the past continuous needs some additional context like "I was working for two hours when I saw her".

Alternatives:

I worked
I was doing work
I was in the middle of working
I was engaged in work
I was occupied with work

I've been working

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to talk about an action that started in the past and is still continuing or has just been completed.

Use "I've been working" to describe an action that started in the past and is still ongoing or has just been completed. It emphasizes the duration or continuity of the action.

Examples:

I've been working on this project for hours.
She's been working at the company for five years.
They've been working on the assignment since morning.

Alternatives:

I have been working
I have been doing work
I have been engaged in work
I have been occupied with work
I have been laboring

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

i was working vs I've been working

i was working

I've been working

Related Comparisons

What Our Customers Are Saying