What tense is the word being

The words been and being are both forms of the verb be. Despite being the most commonly used verb in the English language, be can also be one of the most confusing. This confusion can extend to been and being, which are used in some of the most complicated verb tenses.

In this article, we will break down the difference between been and being, explain the verb tenses in which each is used, and provide examples of the different ways they can be used in a sentence.

When to use been or being

The words been and being are forms of the irregular verb be. Been is the past participle and being is the present participle and gerund form.

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 the other tenses of be, check out our guides on the difference between is vs. are, was vs. were, and has been vs. have been.

But back to been and being. Though they can seem similar, they are used in different situations.

As the past participle, been is the form of be used in the present perfect (has been) and past perfect (had been) verb tenses.

For example:

• She has been here all day.
• They had been asleep for hours already by the time I arrived.

The word been is also used to form the three perfect continuous verb tenses—past, present, and future. In this case, it is combined with another verb in the continuous form.

For example:

• I had been working in my office before the doorbell rang.
• By the time the sun comes up tomorrow, she will have been writing for 10 hours straight.

As the present participle, being is the form of be used in continuous verb tenses.

For example:

• I’m sorry I was being selfish yesterday.
• She is being a nuisance right now.

Being is also the gerund form of be, which means that it can be used as a noun or as part of a noun phrase.

For example:

• Being nice to everyone is just how I live my life.
• When I’m on vacation, I focus on just being.

Been is always used with the auxiliary verbs has, have, had, and will have. As a present participle, being is not used with these auxiliary verbs, but it may possibly appear next to them when used as a noun.

Examples of been and being used in a sentence

Let’s take a look at the different ways that the words been and being can be used in sentences.

• She has been in many popular movies.
• Having been a chef, I know what it’s like being in a hot kitchen all day.
• I have been meaning to tell you that you are being rude when you answer the phone like that.
• When this year ends, I will have been living in the same place for two decades.
• Emily says her new focus is on being a good person.
• Being early for school every morning has been his goal this year.
• He has been cooperative in the past, but he is not being cooperative now.

See how much you have learned with our quiz

To be or not to be a pro at using been or being, that is the question you can answer by taking our quiz on these two forms of the verb be. You may surprise yourself with what you’ve learned!

The difference between be, being, and been can be confusing to a lot of English learners.

Be, being and been are just different forms of the verb to be: Be is the infinitive, being can be the present participle or the gerund form, and been is the past participle.Advertisements

Because we use these forms of the verb to be so often, it can be easy to use the wrong one. They also sound similar, so sometimes it’s hard to hear the difference between be, being, and been.

The biggest difference between be, being, and been is the way in which they’re used. We use:

• Be in commands and with modals.

• Being in continuous tenses, and as gerunds at the beginning of sentences or after certain verbs.

• Been in the perfect tenses and also with modals.

Of course, we know that’s not enough, so we’re going to get into all the ways we use be, being, and been and their major differences:Advertisements

• How to use be

• How to use being

• How to use been

• Be, being, or been: The major differences and common mistakes

So, if you’re ready, let’s get started!

How to Use Be

The infinitive to be means to exist or to take place. It’s an irregular verb, and we have to change the form of the verb depending on the tense.

So, we can change be to is, are, was, were, been, or being depending on how we use it. 

And, when we use it in different tenses, we usually use it as a linking verb, particularly in continuous tenses or in the passive voice.

Different Forms of Be in Continuous Tenses

We can use be in the continuous tense to talk about what’s happening right now, or at a specific moment in the past of the future.

Here, the verb form changes depending on the tense. Here are the different continuous structures:

Present continuous: is/are + -ing

• It is raining right now.

• We are leaving soon.

Past continuous: was/were + -ing

• He was waiting for her phone call.

• They were sleeping when you got here.

Present perfect continuous: has/have + been + -ing

• They have been practicing the piano at home.

• She has been thinking about moving lately.

Future continuous: will + be + ing

• She will be meeting us at the train station.

• They will be working all weekend.

Read more: How to Use the Future Continuous in English

Different Forms of Be in the Passive Voice

We can use the passive voice to talk about rules or policies: when we don’t know the subject, when the subject is obvious, or when we don’t want to focus on the subject.

• Pets are not allowed inside.

• She was informed about the project.

• Renovations are being done at the moment.

• He has not been invited to this gathering.

Read more: Your Ultimate Guide to the Passive Voice in English

Be in Commands

We usually use commands when we’re telling someone to do something or when we’re making a strong suggestion to someone that we’re familiar with. When we use be in commands, though, we don’t have to change the form:

• Be yourself!

• Just be nice!

• Be there at seven.

Be with Modal Verbs

We use modal verbs to talk about things like possibility, ability, obligation, or to make a request or a suggestion.

In the present tense, we always use modal verbs with a base verb, which is the form that the verb takes before we change it.

So, when we use be with modal verbs like can, could, will, would, must, or should to name a few, we don’t have to change it.

Let’s take a look at a few common modal verbs we can use with be. 

So, we can use be with will to talk about the future:

• He will be there at five. 

• She will be really annoyed when she sees us.

We sometimes use be with must or have to when we want to say that something is probably true:

• You must be hungry! 

• She has to be Annie’s daughter. She looks just like her.

We can use be with would be to talk about an imagined situation that’s not likely to happen:

• I would be really surprised if they broke up.

• I thought she would be angry but she just laughed.

We use be with should when we want to make a suggestion, when we want to make a guess, or talk about something someone needs to do:

• You should be Mary Poppins for Halloween.

• What time is it? It should be almost 11:00.

• He should be nicer to his staff.

How to Use Being

Being is the present participle of be, which means that we use it in a continuous tense.

Like most state verbs such as have, mean, like, or prefer, for example, we normally can’t use be in the continuous tense:

• She was at work yesterday.

• She was being at work yesterday.

But that’s not always the case, so let’s look at some exceptions.

Being in the Continuous Tense

We can use being in the present continuous when we’re talking about how someone is acting or behaving:

• She’s acting really weird right now.

• She’s being really weird right now.

• I can’t believe you’re behaving like this.

• I can’t believe you’re being like this.

• Why are you acting so nice?

• Why are you behaving so nice?

Being as a Simple Gerund 

A gerund is a verb that acts like a noun, and we create a gerund by adding -ing to the verb. So, in this case, we have to change be to being. 

When used as a gerund, we can use being as the subject of a sentence:

• Being your friend is the best.

• Being a mom is hard, but I love it.

We can use being after a linking verb or as the object of a sentence:

• His favorite thing about acting is being another person.

We also use gerunds after certain verbs such as love, enjoy and avoid:

• She loves being the goalie during our games.

• A sociable person enjoys being with other people.

• Avoid being in the water during storms.

We use a gerund after a preposition or conjunctions (about, of, at, etc.), so in these cases we have to use being:

• The best part about being a chef is eating.

• Have you ever thought of being a lawyer?

• I’m so bad at being calm!

How to Use Been

Been is the past participle of be, and we only use it in the perfect tense. In general, we use the perfect tense when we want to focus on the present results of things that have been done in the past.

You can see how we use been in the different forms of the perfect tense in the table below:

Been in the Perfect Tenses

Be, Being, or Been: The Major Differences and Common Mistakes

So, now that you understand how to use be, being, and been, what are the major differences between the three forms of be? And what are some of the common mistakes to avoid?

Being vs. Been: Pronunciation 

Part of the reason English learners confuse being and been is because they sound very similar. 

Being has two syllables, although English speakers often say it so quickly that you may not always hear it. Remember there’s a hard g at the end that you should try to pronounce.

Being /ˈbiːɪŋ / [BEE’ ing]

Been, however, only has one syllable in English, and in UK pronunciation, it rhymes with bean.

Been / biːn / 

NOTE: There is a difference between the American and U.K. pronunciation of “been.” In the U.S., we pronounce been with a short e, which is the same vowel sound you hear in egg or web. You might also hear people pronounce it with a short i sound, as in thick or sit. 

But, in the UK, they pronounce been with a long e, which is the vowel sound you hear in key or knee. 

Be vs. Have Been with Modal Verbs

As I mentioned before, we have to use modal verbs like could, should, must, might, or would with the base verb in the present tense. But, in the past tense, we have to use modal verbs with have been. Look at the examples below.

Modal verbs with the present tense

• He should be there by five.

• He should been there by five.

• We might be able to give you a room.

• We might been able to give you a room.

• She must be Andy’s new girlfriend.

• She must been Andy’s new girlfriend.

Modal verbs with the past tense

• He should have been there by five. Where is he?

• He should have be there by five. Where is he?

• We might have been able to to give you a room before, but we can’t now.

• We might have be able to to give you a room before, but we can’t now.

• She must have been Andy’s new girlfriend.

• She must have be Andy’s new girlfriend.

Being vs. Having Been with Gerunds

I’ve already talked about how we can use being with gerunds, but we can only use it with simple gerunds.

There’s also something called a perfect gerund that is slightly different, and it can be a bit more complicated to use.

We use simple gerunds to talk about a time that’s the same as the verb in the main clause.

• He admitted to eating the last piece of cake.

But we use perfect gerunds to talk about a time before the verb in the main clause.

• He admits to having eaten the last piece of cake.

And, when we use perfect gerunds in the passive voice, we can use having been. Look at the examples below to get a clearer understanding of what I mean:

• She hated people lying to her. (simple gerund in the active voice)

• She hated being lied to. (simple gerund in the passive voice)

• She hated people having lied to her. (perfect gerund in the active voice)

• She hated having been lied to. (perfect gerund in the passive voice.)

How can I stop making mistakes with be, being, and been?

Well, if you’ve made it to the end of this post, you’ve already taken a big step in avoiding future mistakes with these three confusing verbs.

But, moving forward in your language learning journey, make it your goal to start thinking more in English and stop translating in your head.

Then, listen! Remember that listening and training your ear to notice mistakes will also help you notice when something doesn’t sound right.

When you need to slow down, which we all need to do when we’re learning a language, reading and writing in English with these verbs will also allow you to explore different structures that you might not always notice when you’re listening and speaking.

Then, practice using them! Fortunately, we use these verbs all the time in English, so, if you’re practicing often, you’re getting plenty of chances to make mistakes and learn how to use these verbs correctly.

About the Writer

Marta is an online ESL teacher who works with students from around the world. As a writer, language nerd, and content contributor for In English With Love, her mission is to empower English learners with knowledge and positivity.

The word «being» is serving as what’s called a present participle in these examples. It is helping to create a form of the verb called the present continuous tense.

You are probably familiar with a variety of tenses, but just in case you don’t remember their names, here are some refresher examples, for the verb «feed». I chose an ordinary transitive verb (one which takes an object, i.e. one in which someone does the verb to something) to show the effect of different tenses more clearly:

Tense Example

---

Past

(Simple) Perfect    I fed the baby
Pluperfect          I had fed the baby
Imperfect           I was _feeding_ the baby

Present

(Simple) Present    I feed the baby
Present Continuous  I am _feeding_ the baby

Future

Future              I will feed the baby
Future Perfect      I will have fed the baby

Note that 2 of these, the Imperfect and the Present Continuous, use the present participle form of the verb itself, «feeding».

Now, suppose that you are the baby. Instead of the active form of the verb, «to feed», we can switch to the passive form, «to be fed». Then, the sentences from earlier in these two tenses change to:

Imperfect           I was _being_ fed
Present Continuous  I am _being_ fed

So, the word «being» shows up most commonly in these two tenses, in the passive form of the verb.

Note: The verb «to be» is an additional, unique case where the word «being» can appear to form these same tenses, but the verb is intransitive. For example:

Imperfect           I was _being_ careful
Present Continuous  I am _being_ careful

Modern American English relies heavily on present continuous tense verb forms instead of the more mundane present tense. In fact, the simple present tense is only regularly used in one way — to reflect an ongoing, regular activity. A few examples:

«How do you get to work?» «I ride the bus.»
«What kind of work do you do?» «I feed animals at the zoo.»

The normal and more common form of the present tense in AmE is the present continuous:

«I’m watching my weight».
«He’s being asked to sign the papers.»
«She’s getting really upset.»

BritE does the same thing, but the simple present shows up a bit more, just as a variation in usage.

Note: There is one rather uncommon usage of the word «being». It sometimes appears to start an adjectival phrase, which is a phrase that describes something. For example:

«The ship’s captain, being taller than the rest of the crew, was able to reach the swinging cask.»

There is another occasional, but incorrect, usage where the word «being» is used as part of a kind of additional dangling phrase that’s trying to do the job of a conjunction:

«I ate the rest of the cake, the reason being that I was depressed.»

These are really two separate ideas, and could be correctly framed by inserting the conjunction «because» and dropping the awkward phrase «the reason being that»:

«I ate the rest of the cake because I was depressed.»

Being is a word that can be hard to master for English as a Second Language speakers. It can be used as a gerund, or in present or past continuous tenses.

In a present or past continuous tense, being says that it is happening now, or was happening before, in a continual manner.

He is being nice.
She was being bad.
You are being good.
They were being mean.
I am being patient.

Being can also be used as a gerund, a word that acts like a noun and looks like a verb.

Do you like being a student? («like» is the verb, «being» is a noun»)
Being a teacher is fun. («is» is the verb, «being» is the subject)
I enjoy being nice to people. («enjoy» is the verb, «being» is the object described as nice)

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  Being as a Present Participle

Being is the present participle (-ing) form of the verb to be, used with the verb to be to form the continuous tenses:

• [Subject] + [to be] + being + [Complement].

Usually, continuous tenses demonstrate a process in progress (i.e. incomplete at the time discussed) or a temporarily repeated activity. With the verb to be, however, we usually refer to states, conditions and feelings in the simple form when we would use continuous for other tenses. This makes the continuous use of to be usually limited to specifically emphasising a temporary condition – often one that is unusual or surprising.

• He was being very helpful on Sunday, for some reason.
• She is being strangely quiet this morning.

This use is more unusual in the future, where the future simple can already emphasise a state, and we’re less to likely to discuss surprising/unexpected information.

Being in the Passive Voice

Being can be used in the the passive continuous forms to show a process in progress (as above, an incomplete or repeated activity). For the passive voice, this is combined with the past participle:

• [Subject] + [to be] + being + [Past participle]

This structure is used to emphasise the doing of the process, rather than the subject (the actor), either because the result is more important than the cause or because the actor is unknown.

• The cliff was being eroded (by the sea).
• Our phone signal is being blocked by something.

Being as a Gerund

The gerund being is a word form that uses the -ing form as a noun. It is used to describe the substance of being, which could be used as a subject or object, with a few different meanings:

• A life-form, e.g. He claimed to have seen a being from space.

This use is common when it is ambiguous or unimportant to specify exactly what the life-form is, so we can refer to uncategorised or new living things as ‘beings’. We can also group wider lifeforms as beings without subgroups, such as living being (or the way we generally refer to human beings).

• To refer to someone in terms of their life essence/wholeness, e.g. She loved art and believed it made up her whole being.

This use is a little like existence, but generally relates it particularly to an individual. You might see it referring to other nouns like animals and objects, but typically a thing’s being has some connection to sense of purpose/life meaning, so it’s often useful for discussing people and their nature.

• To refer to a state of existence, e.g. The idea came into being after hours of brainstorming.

This use would usually be found in rather formal settings, discussing something coming into being in a somewhat academic sense.

Being as an Adverb

Being can be used as a conjunction or as part of an adverbial phrase. Here, it roughly means because or since, and is often connected to a subordinate clause with that, as or as how:

• Wendy missed the train, being that she was late.

It can also be used for the same meaning without a complete clause, to give an adverbial complement:

• Wendy missed the train, being late.

(Or with the subject/verb to follow as an afterthought: Wendy missed the train, being late as she was.)

Being as part of a Noun Phrase

Being can also be used in combination with a complement to form a noun phrase from a state or condition, in order, for example, to refer to it in terms of cause and effect.

• His being tall was the main reason they hired him.

This use will often be applied in similar situations to the adverbial use; the above example could also be said as Because he was tall, they hired him. Or Being tall, he got the job. (In its most standard structure: They hired him because he was tall.)

I hope these explanations and examples give some insight into how we use being in different ways – a lot of these ideas translate to different verbs in the present participle form.