Question of English! Teach me!?

Question

My first language is Japanese. let me ask a question of English.

What is the difference of the meanings bet:
I admitted that I was frightened by the ghost. AND
I admitted that I had been frightened by the ghost.

I know Be P.P and Have(Had) been P.P but I want to know the difference of those meanings.

Thanx in advance.

Answer 1

the first one was in past tense and the other one is in past progressive tense
the meaning is the same. the difference is how the sentence was constructed

Answer 2

They essentially mean the same thing. The first one was a more recently frightening; the second one was a frightening some time in the distant past. I hope that made sense.

Answer 3

i admitted that i had been frightened by the ghost is putting it in past tense, the reference to was could indicate that it was a recent event? sorry, been 11 years since i was at school so I'm probably completely wrong.

Answer 4

Actually, both of those statements have the same meaning. Essentially, there is no difference.

The only difference, of course, is clear- the word choices.

"I was frightened..." and
"I had been frightened" mean the same thing.

Good luck!

Answer 5

one is past tense meaning that it happend before, "been frightened". "was Frightened" can mean past tense as well, though in this context its more present tense. it would make more sense to you maybe if the question was " I admitted that i was frightened by the ghost." OR "I admitted that i had been frightened by the ghost yesterday."

Answer 6

'Was frightened' implies unwavering fright, with no change expected in the tone.

'Had been' is more often paired with some contradictory statement, such as, "I admit that I had been frightened by the ghost, but he turned out to be quite friendly." Had been implies and ending to the initial tone.

Answer 7

Was frightened gives a since of "here and now" it kinda puts you in the event at that point and time while had been is past tense like it happened, but you no longer are, I'd say had been is more proper ... i dunno does that make any since... funny I speak it but never question the form

Answer 8

There is no difference. If any difference between the two I would think in the second that you had been, but weren't any more. This might not be what you meant though. You are learning English well.

Answer 9

The difference is so slight most americans would use them pretty much interchangeably. 99% of americans would interpret these two sentences as having the same meaning. I can almost taste the difference, but it is so slight i don't think i can explain it well.

Answer 10

Since "I admitted" is Reported Speech, it means that original phrase was in Present Indefinite --> Past Indefinite in Reported Speech, and Past Indefinite--> Past Perfect.