you won a prize vs you've won a prize

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'You won a prize' is in simple past tense and is used to describe a completed action in the past. 'You've won a prize' is in present perfect tense and indicates an action that happened at an unspecified time before now, with a connection to the present.

Last updated: April 08, 2024 • 321 views

you won a prize

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to describe a completed action in the past.

This phrase is used in the simple past tense to indicate that someone has already won a prize.

Examples:

You won a prize in the raffle last night.
She won a prize for her outstanding performance.
He won a prize for his artwork.
They won a prize for their innovative idea.
The team won a prize for their project.

Show examples from the web [+]

you won a prize!
You won a prize.
Visit the SuperEnalotto Results page for the draw to view a full prize breakdown, and don't forget to use the Ticket Checker to see if you won a prize!
You just won a prize... for setting a rink record on the boxing machine.
A Ticket Checker that will show you if you have won a prize.
If you have won a prize you will be informed by email.
If you did not play and are contacted to say that you have won a prize, it must be a scam.
If you receive a letter or e mail that says: Congratulations, you have won a prize!, be cautious because this may well be an unfair practice.
The following example is a fake scam message which has been created to give an idea of the kind of way in which a scammer may reach out and say that you have won a prize, whilst also trying to extract personal or financial information.
We hope you all had a healthy and prosperous festive season, and have got your SuperEnalotto lottery tickets ready to check to see if you have won a prize over the Christmas period.
Look, I won you a prize.
Look, I won you a prize.
You've won a bonus prize... of 2 return tickets to any country you choose.
And you won them a Pulitzer Prize, right?
And you look like "you won second prize in a beauty contest, collect $10".
I got a phone call from a person called Marc Abrahams, and he told me, "You've won a prize with your duck paper: the Ig Nobel Prize."
On the Results Checker page, we use a cookie that remembers the Eurojackpot numbers you entered so that the next time you visit our website you can check the same numbers straight away to see if you have won a prize.
If you have won a SiVinceTutto prize, you have 90 days from the date of the draw to claim your prize.
I got a phone call from a person called Marc Abrahams, and he told me, "You've won a prize with your duck paper: the Ig Nobel Prize."
But this is quite something... it won you a literary prize, right?

Alternatives:

You have won a prize
You were awarded a prize
You received a prize

you've won a prize

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate an action that happened at an unspecified time before now, with a connection to the present.

This phrase is used in the present perfect tense to indicate that someone has won a prize with a connection to the present moment.

Examples:

You've won a prize, congratulations!
She's won a prize for her hard work.
He's won a prize for his dedication.
They've won a prize for their teamwork.
The team has won a prize for their efforts.

Show examples from the web [+]

You've won a prize!
I got a phone call from a person called Marc Abrahams, and he told me, "You've won a prize with your duck paper: the Ig Nobel Prize."
I got a phone call from a person called Marc Abrahams, and he told me, "You've won a prize with your duck paper: the Ig Nobel Prize."
So, you've won a prize.
You've won a prize!

Alternatives:

You have won a prize
You were awarded a prize
You received a prize

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).

"Amazing! I like that the editors are REAL people and not A.I., like some use. The editors actually see clients as real people and not just apart of their job, and it shows. 💖"
moggie April 2025
"TextRanch has been a great help to me, especially at work because I often email my boss."
Jhey April 2025
"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