They are both two forms of BE. There are a few differences, but here are some big ones. Was / Were = simple past time: Use it to talk about a time that is finished and over. The time is specific and identified. Use it with words like "yesterday" "last year" "in 2004" etc. "Last night I was at my friend's house." "She was in Chile when the earthquiake hit." "She was pregnant last year." has/have been = present perfect: Use it with words like "since" "for" "recently" and "lately" and when that situation is still true. Also, if you tell the number of times the "condition" existed in the past. This time is not definite, completed, or named. "She's been pregnant for four months." "She has been pregnant three times in the last four years." "Tom wasn't a good student at the beginning of the semester, but he has been very hardworking lately." "I have been sick three times in my life." "She has been late a lot recently." There are some other differences, but I think these are very useful ones.

WAS is the verb TO BE in simple past- If you tell something in simple past you have to say WHEN it happened eg: He was at home yesterday. HAVE BEEN is the verb TO BE in present perfect- If you tell sth in present perfect you don´t know exactly when it happened or you are telling sth that lasted for a period of time. eg Where have you been? I´ve been in the market all day long.

This is a case of simple Past vs. Present Perfect tenses, and Active & Passive voices. was' is the simple past used to express something that occurred int he past. 'has been' This site gives great examples on all the tenses: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/tenses.htm "was" is under Active, "has been" is under Passive.