Correct Use Of Has Been, Have Been And Had Been In English Grammar

All three phrases – has been, have been, and had been – are forms of the verb “to be” used with past participles of other verbs to create perfect tenses.

Has Been and Have Been

Present Perfect Continuous Tense: “Has been” and “have been” are used to describe actions that started in the past and are still continuing or have recently stopped.

Has been: Used with singular subjects (he, she, it).
Have been: Used with plural subjects (we, you, they) and the pronoun “I”.

Examples:

Has been:
- She has been working here for five years.
- He has been studying English since last summer.
Have been:
- They have been traveling around Europe for a month.
- I have been feeling better lately.

Had Been

Past Perfect Continuous Tense: “Had been” is used to describe actions that were ongoing up until a certain point in the past.

Examples:

She had been living in New York before she moved to Los Angeles.
They had been waiting for an hour before the bus finally arrived.
I had been thinking about calling you when you texted me.

Usage Breakdown

Has Been / Have Been:

Form: has/have + been + present participle (verb + ing)
Usage: Actions started in the past and continue to the present or were happening recently.
- She has been reading that book for weeks.
- They have been playing soccer since they were kids.

Had Been:

Form: had + been + present participle (verb + ing)
Usage: Actions that were ongoing in the past and had finished before another past action.
- He had been working at the company for ten years before he retired.
- I had been thinking about it when you mentioned it.

Difference between Has been, Have been and Had been

	Has Been	Have Been	Had Been
Tense	Present Perfect Continuous	Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
Usage	Actions started in the past and continuing to the present or recently stopped	Actions started in the past and continuing to the present or recently stopped	Actions ongoing in the past and completed before another past action
Form	has + been + present participle (verb + ing)	have + been + present participle (verb + ing)	had + been + present participle (verb + ing)
Subject Agreement	Singular third-person subjects (he, she, it)	Plural subjects (we, you, they) and “I”	All subjects (singular and plural)
Examples	– She has been working here for five years. – He has been studying English since last summer. – It has been raining all day.	– They have been traveling around Europe for a month. – We have been friends since childhood. – I have been feeling better lately.	– She had been living in New York before she moved to Los Angeles. – They had been waiting for an hour before the bus finally arrived. – I had been thinking about calling you when you texted me.