When to use the word has been

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.

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.

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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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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