The verb phrases have been, has been, and had been all have closely related meanings. That similarity may at times lead to confusion about the right time to use each construction.
In today’s review we will discuss the differences among the phrases so you can use each one correctly when you are speaking or writing.
When and How to Use Have Been or Has Been
Have been and has been are verb constructions that are used in the present perfect tense and the present perfect progressive tense.
The present perfect tense identifies an action or a state that took place at an unspecified time in the past. The present perfect progressive expresses an ongoing activity that started in the past and continues into the present.
Examples
I have been to that city. (present perfect)
Shane has not been working on the tractor of late. (present perfect progressive)
We would use have been when the sentence subject is I, you, we, or the third person plural (the children have been studying grammar all morning; they have been studying all morning).
If the sentence subject is a third-person singular noun (he, she, it, Courtney), we would use the phrase has been.
Examples
Courtney has been a team leader before. (present perfect)
It has been drifting through my mind lately. (present perfect progressive)
As you can see, have been and has been have the same related usage and meaning. The main difference between them is the form that is determined by the subject performing the action.
When and How to Use Had Been
Had been is similar to have been and has been, except that it identifies actions that both began and ended in the past. It is used in the past perfect and past perfect progressive tenses. Where have been and has been suggest a past point in time that remains open and unfinished, had been indicates something that is closed and completed.
Examples
Until Roger became manager, the repair records had been vague at best. (past perfect)
I had been feeling sad before my parents gave me a puppy. (past perfect progressive)
In these examples, the verb refers to something that both started and ended in the past.
Pop Quiz
Fill in each blank with the proper use of have been, has been, or had been according to the tense given.
1. Nicole _____ working hard these days to improve her grades at school. (present perfect progressive)
2. We _____ dreaming about this day for months. (present perfect progressive)
3. The team _____ on a three-game losing streak before tonight’s win. (past perfect)
4. I don’t know anyone else who _____ to the new theater production yet. (present perfect)
5. I _____ thinking a lot about my future lately. (present perfect progressive)
Pop Quiz Answers
1. Nicole has been working hard to improve her grades at school.
2. We have been dreaming about this day for months.
3. The team had been on a three-game losing streak before tonight’s win.
4. I don’t know anyone else who has been to the new theater production yet.
5. I have been thinking a lot about my future lately.
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If you have been wondering if your grammar has been correct when it comes to has been, have been, and had been, you have come to the right place.
In this article, we’ll break down the difference between these three verb phrases and explain how you can always know which one is correct to use.
⚡ Quick summary
Has been and have been are both present perfect forms of the irregular verb be. Has been is the form used with a third person singular subject (including the pronouns she, he, and it—but not singular they). Have been is the form used with any other subject (including the pronouns I, we, and they). Had been is the past perfect form of be and is used regardless of the subject. All three of these phrases are combined with the present participles of other verbs to form their past perfect continuous (as in had been working) and present perfect continuous (as in has/have been working) forms.
has been vs. have been
The word been is the past participle of the irregular verb be. Verbs are typically considered to be irregular verbs if their past tense form and/or past participle are not formed by adding -ed or -d to the end of their root form. This is the case with be, as its past tense forms are was/were and its past participle is been.
Be is an especially odd case of an irregular verb as it changes considerably when conjugated into its different forms (conjugation involves changes based on the subject and tense of the sentence). The verb be is conjugated as follows:
- be: root/infinitive
Example: I’d like to be helpful.
- am: first person singular present tense
Example: I am helpful.
- is: third person singular present tense
Example: She is helpful, and he is, too.
- are: second person singular, all plurals present tense
Example: They are both helpful.
- was: first and third person singular past tense
Example: He was helpful yesterday.
- were: second person singular and all plurals past tense
Example: They were both helpful yesterday.
- been: past participle
Example: She has been helpful, and they have been helpful, too.
- being: present participle and gerund
Example: You are being helpful. (present participle)
If you’re confused about how been is different from being, check out our guide to been vs. being.
As the past participle, been is the form of be used in the present perfect tense. In short, the present perfect tense is used to indicate that an action has both happened in the past and continued into the present. The present perfect tense combines the past participle—in this case, been—with either has or have depending on if the subject is third person singular or not. Has been is used with a third person singular subject (with the exception of singular they) and have been is used with any other subject.
When deciding between has been and have been, it is important to determine what the subject of the sentence is in order to adhere to subject-verb agreement. Be careful of tricky things like prepositional phrases and compound subjects. For example:
- The box of video tapes has been there this whole time. (The subject, box, agrees with the verb, has been.)
- Four leopards, three monkeys, and a parrot have been part of the zoo for years. (The compound subject acts as a plural and agrees with the verb, have been.)
Note: The verb phrase has been is not to be confused with the noun has-been, which is an informal term for someone who is thought to be no longer as good or effective as they once were.
Has been and have been are also used to perform another important grammatical task. They are combined with the present participles of verbs to form the present perfect continuous tense of those verbs. For example:
- He has been studying for hours.
- They have been driving since noon.
To learn more about the present perfect continuous tense, look here!
has been and have been vs. had been
As the past participle of be, been is also used to form the past perfect tense. The past perfect tense uses the past participle—in this case, been—with the word had. Unlike the present perfect tense, the word had is used regardless of what the subject is.
For example, had been is correct in both of these sentences despite the fact that one sentence has a singular subject and the other has a plural subject:
- The cat had been quiet all morning.
- The cats had been quiet all morning.
There are a few specific reasons why we use the past perfect verb tense. When we use the past perfect tense, the reference point in regards to time is in the past.
- The store had been closed for three years. (Here, had been indicates that the three-year period is measured from a point in time in the past, as in By 1985, the store had been closed for three years.)
This is different from the present perfect tense, where our reference point is the present. For example:
- The store has been closed for three years. (In this case, the use of has been indicates that the store has been closed for three years dating back from the present moment.)
The phrase had been also has another important role. It is combined with the present participle of verbs to form the past perfect continuous tense. For example:
- By the time I arrived, they had been waiting for hours.
has already been and has been already
You can use adverbs such as already with has been, have been, and had been. It is typically recommended to put it in the middle of the verb phrase in order to avoid confusion and make it clear that the adverb is modifying a verb. For example:
- She has already been to California twice this year.
- The Patriots have already been to the Super Bowl multiple times.
- The plants had already been watered by the time I got to the greenhouse.
Typically, other adverbs tend to follow this same pattern:
- He has previously been on the late night talk show.
- We have never been to Portugal before.
- The store had just been opened by the time I arrived.
Although such adverbs are sometimes placed before the verb phrase, it usually sounds unnatural and stilted to place them after.
Examples of has been, have been, and had been used in a sentence
Let’s take a look at the different ways we can use has been, have been, and had been in sentences.
- Melody has been my music teacher for the past five years.
- Gas prices have been outrageous the last few months.
- We got lost because we had been reading the map upside-down the whole time.
- There have been many good leaders at this organization, but she has been the best.
- Our performances have been great recently, but they had been a disaster before we started practicing regularly.
What is the difference between “have been, has been and had been“?
Are you struggling to use the correct form when you’re speaking or writing in English? In this lesson we’ll learn about the difference between have been, has been and had been.
Remember the best way to be learning grammar is using it! When you make practice, you will able to develop better understanding the use of each grammatical structure and apply this to your everyday life when you are speaking or writing in English.
| Have Been | Has Been | Had Been | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form | Present Perfect Continuous | Present Perfect | Past Perfect |
| Meaning | Action started in the past and continues to the present | Action started in the past and continues to the present | -Action started and finished before another past action -“Had been,”, suggests an action that both began and ended in the past. |
| Pronoun | I/You/We/They | She/He/It | I/You/He/She/It/We/They |
| Example | They have been studying for 3 hours. (still studying) | He has been studying for 3 hours. (still studying) | -I had been studying for 3 hours before leaving my room.
-He had been studying for an hour before he decided to stop. |
Difference between “Have Been & Has Been”
‘Has been’ and ‘have been’ suggest an action that started in the past, but continues in the present.
When we are talking about the present:
If the subject of a sentence is I – You – We – They or a plural noun (cars, birds, children) we use ‘have been‘.
Examples:
☛A total of five cars have been stolen from the city center.
☛Birds have been following me all day long.
☛Children have been playing since morning. (still playing)
If the subject of the sentence is He – She – It or a singular noun (car, bird, child) we use ‘has been‘.
Examples:
☛My car has been stolen from the city center.
☛This bird has been following me all day long.
☛A child has been playing since morning.
Check Also:
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Usage of “Had Been”
When we are talking about the past: for any subject (I, You, He, She,It, We, They) we use ‘had been‘.
“Had been,”, suggests an action that both began and ended in the past.
We use the past perfect continuous to indicate that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past.
To show time reference “for” and “since” are used and it describes when the action started and how long it continued in the past.
“For ten minutes”, “for five weeks”, “for two months” are durations which can be used with the past perfect continuous.
Examples:
☛I had been reading articles on English language for three hours.
☛How long had you been studying English before you moved to London?
☛I had been shopping with my wife in the market since morning.
☛She had been shopping in that bazaar before you came home.
☛Children had been playing baseball in that field before it started to rain. (not anymore)
Difference between ‘Have been’ – ‘Had been’
Present perfect ‘have/has been ‘ is used when describing an action completed in the recent past and still assumes importance in the present.
We use ‘had been’ when you describe something that happened in the past before something else in the past. Also an action that had happened in the past and does not reflect any continuation to the present time.
Example: By 500 AD, the Roman Empire had been defeated.
Present Perfect Continuous / Have been -ing
We used Present Continuous to express an action we are doing now.
You are reading a book now. (Present Continuous)
The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used for an action that started in the past and still continues. The action started in the past, continues now, and perhaps will continue in the future.
You have been reading a book for three hours.
You started reading books two hours ago and is still reading now. Maybe you will continue to read.
Go to Have Been, Has Been, Had Been QUIZ HERE.
☞You can find more English quizzes on quizyourenglish.com
In the English language, it is important to understand the proper use of the perfect tenses. For example, when we try to talk about an action that occurred for some time and was ongoing, is it “has been” or “had been”?
“Has been” is only used with third-person nouns or pronouns to indicate an action that started in the past and either finished in the recent past (present perfect) or continued for a period (present perfect continuous). “Had been” is used in the past perfect tense to emphasize a completed action that began in the past, and the past perfect continuous emphasizes the duration.
This article will cover the details surrounding when we should use “has been” or “had been.” We’ll provide a few examples of constructing sentences in the present perfect, past perfect, and their continuous tenses.
The Difference Between Has or Had
“Has” and “had” are forms of the verb “have,” which as a transitive verb means to possess or hold. As an auxiliary verb, we use “has,” “had,” or “have” with past participles to form the present perfect, past perfect, or future perfect tense (source).
We use “have” with first- and second-person pronouns, like “I” and “you.” “Has” is the present tense form that goes with third-person singular nouns, like “he,” “she,” and “it.” Meanwhile, “had” is the past tense form as well as the past participle of “have,” and it works with all of the pronouns.
| Perspective | Pronouns | Present Tense | Past Tense |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person | I, we | Have | Had |
| Second Person | You, they | Have | Had |
| Third Person | He, she, it | Has | Had |
For more on using the auxiliary verbs “have” and “had,” make sure you take a look at the article “Have Run or Had Run: When to Use the Proper Past Tense.”
“Has been” and “had been” are perfect tense forms that combine the auxiliary verbs “has” or “had” with the past participle of “be,” which is “been” (source). If you have “been” somewhere, that means you have gone to that place or been in that circumstance.
“Has been” is in the present perfect or present perfect continuous tense, while “had been” is in the past perfect or past perfect continuous tense. Meanwhile, we can use “have been” for the present perfect or future perfect tenses (source).
What Is the Perfect Tense?
The perfect tense indicates an action that someone or something has completed (perfected). In the English language, we usually use three primary verb tenses to indicate an action according to the time frame in which it occurred.
These are the past (something that has happened), the present (something that is still happening), and the future tense (something that will happen), respectively.
Grammarians further categorize each of these — past, present, and future tenses — into simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive tenses. Thus, for example, “Has been” or “Had been” belong to the perfect tense and perfect progressive/continuous tense.
If we do not follow “has been” or “have been” with another participle, they are in the present perfect tense, while “had been” is in the past perfect tense.
By adding another participle after the past participle “been,” we form the present perfect and past perfect continuous tenses. Thus, “has been” is in the present perfect continuous or progressive tense, while “had been” is the past perfect continuous or progressive tense.
| Present Perfect | Has + been + location | He has been to the store. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | Has + been + present participle | I have been running for three hours. |
| Past Perfect | Had + been + location | He had been to the store. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Had + been + present participle | I had been running for three hours. |
Has Been Meaning
“Has been” means that someone or something was in the act of doing something or in a particular circumstance or location.
We use “has been” to indicate something that someone started in the past and finished (perfected) in the recent past or is still ongoing. When it is complete, we call it the “present perfect” because the results are visible in the present, even though the action has ceased (source).
We can also use “has been” to refer to repeated or recurring events that continued until the present.
The main difference between the present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous is that the present perfect tense focuses on a completed action. In contrast, the present perfect continuous tense emphasizes the continuation of an action (source).
While the present perfect continuous can also refer to a completed action, there is still a greater degree of continuity with the present.
The present perfect tenses involve using “have been” for first- and second-person singular and plural pronouns, while we use “has been” for third-person nouns or pronouns.
“Has Been” or “Have Been” Examples: Present Perfect
The present perfect tense uses the auxiliary verb “has” or “have” with a past participle. The construction for the present perfect tense includes an object after the participle that is either the object of the verb or the object of the preposition.
- I have called my friend.
- He has written three books.
- Tommy has called for another meeting.
- I have watched the movie.
We can also use “has been” or “have been” in the present perfect tense when we do not follow them with an -ing verb. This indicates that someone has gone to a particular location.
- They have been to Europe.
- They have been in a meeting for an hour.
Examples: Present Perfect Continuous
In contrast, we can form a simple sentence in the present perfect continuous using the following construction: Subject + the auxiliary verb “has” or “have” + the past participle “been” + the present participle.
- It has been raining for two hours.
- I have been reading this book.
In these examples, the action is either still going on or has ceased in the recent past. We often use “has been” to show that someone or something — he, she, or it — started an action in the past that is still continuing.
- She has been teaching in this school all her life.
- He has been washing the car since this morning.
- Eric has been around for a year.
In the last example, the present perfect continuous verb tense indicates that Eric arrived about a year ago, but it implies that he is still there.
We can do the same for “have been,” only we refer to ourselves or the addressee(s).
- First-person singular: I have been reading The Ring for a month now.
- First-person plural: We have been visiting for a week.
- Second-person singular: You have been running that company for 15 years.
- Second-person plural: They have been studying for the biology exam the whole day.
We can also refer to recent past activities where we can still see the effects of the activity.
- It’s been raining.
- I’ve been painting.
- Jessica has been decorating.
Notice how we can use the contracted forms as well. “It’s” means “it has,” while “I’ve” is the contracted form of “I have.”
Examples: Negative and Interrogative Statements
To form a negative statement in the present perfect tense, we simply insert the adverb “not” between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.
- He has not called his friend.
- She has not been to Europe.
- He has not written three books.
- Tommy has not called for another meeting
- I have not watched the movie
Similarly, we can form a negative statement in the present perfect continuous by inserting “not” between the auxiliary verb and the past participle “been.”
- It has not been raining for two hours.
- They have not been in a meeting for an hour.
- I have not been reading this book.
Also, we can form an interrogative sentence by changing the order of the subject and the auxiliary verb.
Present perfect:
- Has he written three books?
- Has Tommy called for another meeting?
- Have I watched the movie?
Present perfect continuous:
- Has it been raining for two hours?
- Have they been meeting for an hour?
- Have you been reading this book?
Had Been Meaning
Unlike “has been” or “have been,” we use “had been” in all past perfect tenses irrespective of the person or plurality of the noun or pronoun.
The main difference between the past perfect and the past perfect continuous is that we use the past perfect continuous to describe how long something went on before another important event happened in the past.
In contrast, the past perfect emphasizes the completion of an action before another event in the past.
Had Been Examples: Past Perfect
The past perfect is a tense that we use to talk about experiences and actions that were completed at some point in the past. For example, how would you explain a story to your friends where the events happened in the past?
This is where the past perfect tense comes in handy. Consider the following scenario: You go out for your morning walk, and when you return, you find out someone left a gift for you with a message that “Joey was here.”
If you were to describe this series of events to someone else, you might say, “I returned home and saw that Joey had left me a gift.”
We use the past tense auxiliary verb “had” with a past participle to form the past perfect.
- Our team had won the championship.
- We had lost the book.
- The teacher had punished the boy.
Examples: Past Perfect Continuous
We use “had been” to define an action that began in the past, continued for some time, then ended in the past. In other words, its origin, continuation, and termination are all entirely in the past.
We construct the past perfect continuous tense as follows: Subject + had been + present participle.
- I had been teaching there for a few months.
- They had been painting the walls.
- It had been raining for hours.
- I had been their employee for seven years.
- They had been talking for over an hour before their friend arrived.
Examples: Negative and Interrogative Statements
Just like the present perfect, we can form a negative statement in the past perfect by inserting the adverb “not” between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.
Past perfect:
- I had not cleaned the floor.
- They had not implemented the original plan.
- I had not met her husband.
Past perfect continuous:
- I had not been teaching there for long.
- They had not been implementing the plan as they were supposed to.
- The sun had not been shining for days.
Unlike the present perfect, we don’t generally form an interrogative sentence when we reverse the order of the auxiliary verb and the subject. Instead, we generally form a dependent clause.
Past perfect:
- Had I not cleaned the paint, I would have been in serious trouble.
- Had they not planned ahead, the trip could have taken twice as long.
- Had I not met her husband, I might have believed the accusations.
Past perfect continuous:
- Had I not been teaching there for a few months, I wouldn’t understand.
- Had they not been painting the walls, I would have finished.
- Had it not been raining for hours, we could have returned to the fields.
This article was written for strategiesforparents.com.
For more on the past and present perfect, you may want to check out “Can I Use Present Perfect and Past Perfect in the Same Sentence?”
Final Thoughts
We use “Has been” in either the present perfect or the present perfect continuous tense. We use “has been” for third-person nouns and pronouns, while we use “have been” for first- and second-person singular or plural nouns.
On the other hand, we use “had been” for the past perfect tenses regardless of the noun or pronoun.
The continuous tenses all indicate something that began in the past and continued for some time. The present perfect continuous indicates that the action either ended recently or is still ongoing. In contrast, the past perfect continuous indicates an action that continued for a time before ending in the past.
Below you will find the full lesson notes from the video lesson…
When to use: to have
I have a new car. The basic meaning of the verb have is “to be in the possession of something”. It is used in present simple, and it expresses a fact of having something in the present. When it comes to auxiliary verb “have”, we use it to form present perfect and present perfect continuous. I have gone to that show already. In this example, “have” is used as an auxiliary verb to form present perfect. Present perfect is a tense that connects past and the present. In this example, the person went to the show sometime in the past, but that is still valid in the present. Auxiliary verb “to have” is used to express that present through its present form. I have skipped breakfast today and now I’m hungry. In this example “have” is again used to form present perfect. Here it expresses a finished action in the past that has a result on the present – because the person in the example didn’t eat breakfast in the morning, in the present the person is hungry. To connect the two, present perfect is used and the verb “have” again serves as a signal of the present time by being in the present itself (by form). I have been going to the same cafe for 10 years. Auxiliary verb “to have” is also used to form present perfect continuous. The tense is used to express regularity of some action that started in the past, and continues to happen throughout some amount of time regularly and it is still true in the present. Auxiliary verb helps us to become aware of the present time of the action. I have been watching that show the whole day. In this example have is also used to form present perfect continuous. It expresses and action that started in the past, but was happening the whole time leading up to the present, and continues still. The present form of have reminds us of the present time of the action.
When to use Has been?
That china set has been in our family for year. In this example, we see another form of the verb “to have”. “Has” is the third person singular of the verb to have, used for pronouns he, she, it. In this example, we used it to form present perfect, and has functions the same as “have” – it contains and expresses the present time, connects the past and the present. He has been reading for the past two hours. In this example has is used to form present perfect continuous. It is used for the same pronouns, he, she or it, so, for the third person singular. As we said, as have and has are the same verbs, their function is the same – has also signaled the present for some action that started in the past, but continues up to the present. She has been running for half an hour without any pause. Has is again used to form present perfect continuous. It expresses an unfinished action that started up in the past continued to happen for some amount of time leading up to the present and is still true in the present.
When to use had been?
I had a dress like that, I don’t know where it is now. Verb “had” is the past form of the verb to have. It expresses the possession of something in the past, something someone had before, but no longer has, the action is completely in the past. He had studied English before he moved to New York. “Had” may also be used as an auxiliary verb to form past perfect. When we use past perfect, we express a past action that happened before some other past action, so past before the past. Auxiliary verb “had” signals the past by it past form. When it comes to had, it has the same form throughout all persons, so with he, she, it, we also use “had”, just like with all other person. I had gone to that school before I changed cities. In this example we are again faced with a past action that happened before some other past action. To express that, auxiliary verb “had” is used. He had been waiting there for more than 2 hours when she finally arrived. Auxiliary verb “had” is also used to form past perfect continuous. It expresses some past action that was happening for some time in the past, before some other past action happened. To sum up, we use auxiliary verb “have” to form present perfect and present perfect continuous. “Had” is the past form of “have”, and therefore it is used to form past perfect and past perfect continuous.