Re: was telling, told, have told, have been telling In fact, for most of your sentences, the meaning is almost the same, and you could use any of them. But there some very small differences:
...who I was telling you about. (At some time in the past, I was telling you about him, until we were interrupted/changed the subject/went home...)
...who I told you about. (I told you about him in the past. This is very neutral.)
...who I have told you about. (You already know something about him.)
The last one is a little different:
...who I have been telling you about. (He is the subject of the conversation which we are having now. Or: I have told you many things about him repeatedly over a long period of time.) |