When do you need to use ‘been’ and when do you need to use ‘being’ in your English sentences?
Here’s a quick explanation for you so that you can be correct and accurate when you speak or write English.
Been
‘Been’ is the past participle of the verb ‘to be’.
I am / I was / I have been
You are / You were / You have been
She is / She was / She has been
He is / He was / He has been
It is / It was / It has been
We are / We were / We have been
They are / They were / They have been
As you can see, ‘been’ doesn’t change. “I have been”, “She has been”, and so on.
So, we”ll need to use ‘been’ in these situations:
1. For the present perfect, future perfect and past perfect tenses of the verb ‘to be’ – even in the continuous forms.
This is because you need the past participle to form perfect tenses.
“I have been to the USA.”
“Have you been working hard?”
“She‘ll have been here for five years this week.”
“They‘ll have been living there for two weeks by the time their house renovations are finished.”
“I’d been asleep all day – that’s why I didn’t get your text.”
“We‘d been playing sport before we went home.”
2. For the passive form of perfect tenses.
This is because we need to use the verb “to be” when we make a passive form – and we need it in the same tense as the verb in the active sentence. So if we make a passive form with a perfect tense, we’ll need “have been”, “had been” or “will have been”.
She helps me every day = I am helped every day (present simple passive)
She is helping me every day = I am being helped every day (present continuous passive)
She helped me every day = I was helped every day (past simple passive)
She was helping me every day = I was being helped every day
She has helped me every day = I have been helped every day (present perfect passive)
She had helped me every day = I had been helped every day (past perfect passive)
She will have helped me every day = I will have been helped every day (future perfect passive)
Being
‘Being’ is the present participle of the verb ‘to be’.
I am being (careful) / I was being (careful)
You are being (careful) You were being (careful)
She is being (careful) / She was being (careful)
He is being (careful) / He was being (careful)
It is being / It was being (most often used in passive forms of the verb “to be” – see point 2 above)
We are being (careful) / We were being (careful)
They are being (careful) / They were being (careful)
As you can see, ‘being’ doesn’t change. “I am being”, “She was being”, and so on.
We use ‘being’ in these situations:
1. In continuous forms of the verb ‘to be’
This is because continuous forms have the verb “to be” and then the ‘ing’ form of the main verb. So in the present and past continuous, you have ‘being’ after the first part of the tense.
I am being / They were being, etc. (see above)
Note: You’ll probably need something after this. For example, “He is being careful” or “I was being trained” (see passive, below.)
2. In passive forms of the verb “to be” (present and past continuous)
This is because we need to use the verb “to be” when we make a passive form – and we need it in the same tense as the verb in the active sentence. So if we make a passive form with a continuous tense, we’ll need “am being”, “was being” followed by the past participle.
“I am being helped by a therapist.”
“He was being trained by a coach.”
Note: We don’t use the passive form with perfect continuous tenses:
I have been helped, NOT I have been being helped
3. In the gerund form
A gerund is a type of noun which looks like a verb. We use it as both the subject and the object of the verb, and also after prepositions.
Here are some examples for you:
“Being healthy is the most important.” (Subject)
“I like being healthy.” (Object)
“I’m tired of being unhealthy.” (after preposition)
Examples
Is it “been” or “being” in these examples? Decide, then check the correct answers.
1. He has been / being awarded a prize.
2. My house was been / being redecorated.
3. She is been / being a little difficult to talk to at the moment.
4. Have you been / being away?
5. I wasn’t been / being serious.
6. Been / Being a teacher isn’t easy.
7. She has been / being told this many times.
8. Have you been / being waiting long?
9. I’m scared of been / being on a stage.
10. The match has been / being cancelled.
Here are the answers!
- He has been awarded a prize.
- My house was being redecorated.
- She is being a little difficult to talk to at the moment.
- Have you been away?
- I wasn’t being serious.
- Being a teacher isn’t easy.
- She has been told this many times.
- Have you been waiting long?
- I’m scared of being on a stage.
- The match has been cancelled.