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"Been" is the past participle of "be" (used with have/has/had); "being" is the present participle of "be" (used with am/is/are/was/were).
Side-by-side comparison
"Been" always comes after have, has, or had. Never use it alone or with am, is, are, was, or were. Those are the auxiliaries for "being", not "been".
She has been studying for the exam since early this morning and still has three chapters to go.
I have been living in this city for five years and still discover new places every week.
By the time you arrive, she will have been waiting for over an hour, please hurry.
"Being" always comes after am, is, are, was, or were. It also works as a noun: "human being". Never use it with have, has, or had.
She is being very patient with the students today, this is not always the case on exam days.
The apartment is being renovated and will be ready in about three weeks.
He was being incredibly generous, he insisted on paying for everyone's dinner without being asked.
Common mistake
- •"I have being working" and "she has being here" are wrong.
- •After have/has/had always use "been", never "being".
- •The combination "have being" does not exist in English.
Trick to remember it
- •The auxiliary chooses everything: HAVE/HAS/HAD take BEEN (perfect tenses, something already done). AM/IS/ARE/WAS/WERE take BEING (continuous tenses, something in progress at that moment).
- •Impossible cross: "is been" and "have being" don't exist. Mix up the auxiliaries and the error is immediately visible.
Quick rule
- •"Been" comes after have/has/had: perfect tenses ("she has been here", "it had been done").
- •"Being" comes after am/is/are/was/were: progressive passives ("is being renovated", "was being discussed") or as a subject/complement ("Being late is rude").
- •Quick signal: have/has/had before it? = been. am/is/are/was/were before it? = being.
Did you know?
"Being" as a noun has a fascinating philosophical history. The question "What is a being?" is central to ontology, the branch of philosophy studying existence. Martin Heidegger titled his masterwork "Being and Time" (1927), and the debate about the nature of "being" has occupied philosophers since Plato and Aristotle. The same word that causes grammatical confusion for millions of students is also the most studied word in the history of philosophy.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
She has _____ waiting for you for half an hour. Where were you?
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
He is _____ really kind today. He helped me twice already.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
One describes how you feel, the other describes what causes that feeling.
"Interested" describes the subject who feels the interest; "interesting" describes the object that causes it.
'Lay' is transitive (to place something); 'lie' is intransitive (to recline, no direct object needed).
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy