Being and Been

It is easy to confuse these two verbs with each other. After all, they sound the same way, and their spellings are almost identical. Knowing when to use either of these verbs is important, especially in writing.

“Being” and “been” are the two forms of the verb “be.” “Being” is the present participle of “be.” It can also be used with the continuous form of “be” in different forms, such as: “am,” “is,” “was,” “were,” and “am.” On the other hand, “been” is the past participle of “be.”

The primary difference between “being” and “been” is that the former is always used after the verbs “has,” “have,” and “had” in the perfect tense. Whereas “being” describes actions in the present or continuous tense. Another difference between the two verbs, which has also been highlighted above, is that “been” is the past participle, whereas “being” is the present participle.

The rule to keep in mind when trying to differentiate between the two verbs and when to use them is to remember that “been” is always used after “have” or its other form, whereas “being” never appears after the verb.

These examples will demonstrate the difference between the two verbs.

• My mother has been very helpful this past week.
• He is just being human.
• Stop being jealous of your sister.
• He has been waiting for an invitation for a while.
• Have you been seeing a therapist?
• She is being accused of stealing.