Should one use has been or was in the following sentence, and why?
- For many years the USA has been a British colony.
- For many years the USA was a British colony.
past-tensepresent-perfectpresent-perfect-vs-simple-pasttenses
Should one use has been or was in the following sentence, and why?
- For many years the USA has been a British colony.
- For many years the USA was a British colony.
Best Answer
"Was" is the correct word to use. Why?
If we were to rearrange the sentence a little, we would see why:
Example 1 indicates that the USA is still a British colony, and has been a British colony for many years.
Example 2 indicates that USA used to be a British colony, but possibly is no longer.
Thus, "was" would be more appropriate in this case.