being and been - the difference

Free grammar tips, lessons and tests			Recommended purchases
This site: Grammar Monster on line	Daily tips with Grammar Monster's gadget	Daily tips with Grammar Monster on Twitter	The best grammar reference books	Grammar Monster off line	The only grammar checker we'll endorse
Common grammar errors Easily confused words Grammar terms & definitions Grammar tests Grammar lessons Search this site

BEING / BEEN

Use 'been' after the verb 'to have'. Use 'being' after the verb 'to be'.

Being and Been

Some writers occasionally confuse the words 'being' and 'been'. As a rule, the word 'been' is always used after 'have' (in any form; e.g, has, had, will have); whereas, 'being' is never used after 'have'. 'Being' is used after 'to be' (in any form; e.g., is, was, were).

Examples:

I have been busy.

Terry has being taking the stores to the shelter.

('being' cannot follow 'has' or 'have')

Being as a Noun

The word 'being' can also be a noun.

Examples:

A human being

A strange being stepped out of the space ship.

Being as a Gerund

The word 'being' can also be a gerund (which is a type of noun).

Examples:

Do you like being so ignorant?

The accident was caused by his being so clumsy.

Select the correct version:

THEY'RE PARTICIPLES

'Being' is the present participle of the verb 'to be'. (For comparison, 'cooking' is the present participle of the verb 'to cook'.)

'Been' is the past participle of the verb to be. (For comparison, 'cooked' is the past participle of the verb 'to cook'.)

Usually participles can be used as adjectives before nouns, but 'being' and 'been' can't.

Past participles (e.g., deleted, broken) and present participle (e.g., cooking, running) can be used like adjectives.

Broken link.

Deleted file.

Cooking sauce.

Running shoes.

However, even although 'been' and 'being' are participles, they are not used as adjectives before nouns.

The been car.

(What does this mean? The car that used to be a car? This is nonsense.)

The being tree.

(The tree that is a tree? This is nonsense.)

'Been' is always used in conjunction with the verb 'to have', which is its auxiliary verb. The auxiliary verb for 'being', on the other hand, is the verb 'to be' (e.g., is, are, was).

He is being stupid.

He is been stupid.

(been goes with has)

He has been stupid.

However, 'being' can act as an adjective before a noun (or a pronoun) when it is joined by other words to form a participle phrase.

Being such a lazy oaf, Tony often drives to the nearby shops.

('Being such a lazy oaf' is participle phrase that describes Tony.)

Associated lessons:

What are adjectives?
What are nouns?
What are pronouns?
What are gerunds?
What are verbs?
What are past participles?
What are auxiliary verbs? List of easily confused words