Many people can get confused between “has been”, “have been” and “had been”.
I’ll briefly explain the main differences in this post.
Without getting too technical about it, there are two major differences:
- “Had been” is used to mean that something happened in the past and has already ended.
- “Have been” and “has been” are used to mean that something began in the past and has lasted into the present time.
1. “had been” – something began in the past, lasted for some time, then ended. It is entirely in the past.
Examples
- They had been talking for over an hour before Laila arrived.
- The children had been excited about the trip to the museum until it was cancelled last month due to the coronavirus.
2. “has been” and “have been”– something began in the past and has lasted into the present time, or was just finished not too long ago.
As a general rule, “has” is used in the third person singular (“he”, “she”, “it”) and singular nouns.
Examples
- Anas has been working in this company for more than 10 years. [He is still working here.]
- She has been notified about the changes in the document.
- The dog has been barking all night. [It’s still night time.]
Generally, “have” is used for first- and second-person singular (when using “I”, “we”, “they” and “you”) and plural nouns.
Examples
- I have been looking for my missing earring all morning!
- The girls have been so committed in getting the project launched.
- You have been so busy lately, I’ve barely had the chance to talk to you.
So there you have it.
If you’ve been wondering about the difference between “had been”, “has been” and “have been”, I hope you found this helpful.
