The Difference Between Been And Being

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. I live in terror of not being misunderstood. (Oscar Wilde)

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. (Remember, 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 a participle phrase that describes Tony.)