ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

TOPIC 1 – HAVE BEEN / HAS BEEN / HAD BEEN do some housework

He has been a cleaner for 11 He had been a cleaner for 11
Present: months months when he quit his job
Have been We have been together for 2 ½ We had been together for 2 ½
- Plural nouns, I, you, we, they years years when we broke up
- E.g.: I have been, they have been, the dogs have been
3rd Use
Has Been - Passive voice
- Singular nouns, uncountable nouns, he, she, it o Your offer has been accepted (Passive)
- E.g.: She has been, It has been, the cat has been, the water The seller has accepted your offer (Active)
has been o Your parcels have been delivered to a neighbor
(Passive
Past: We have delivered your parcels to a neighbor
Had been (Active)
- Any subject o Mistakes have been made (Passive)
- E.g.: I had been, she had been, the people had been, it had I have made mistakes (Active)
been - Quite advanced/uncommon: If there were two actions in the
past
Uses: o “The marketing campaign had just been launched
1st Use
when the agency shut down
- Travel Experience (general):
 Both of the actions or events were” in
o We have been to Seville many times
the past
We have visited Seville many times  The first event that occurred is
o I’ve been to Italy 3 times indicated with “had been”
I’ve visited Italy 3 times  The second event is just a simple past
o Have you been to Mexico? tense
Yes, I’ve been to Mexico o “The plane had been waiting for fuel when the
No, I haven’t been to Mexico pilot noticed a problem”
- Cannot talk about specific times
o I have been to Mexico last year = WRONG
- “Had been” when talking about 2 events in the past
o When I visited Milan last year, I had never been
to Italy before

2nd Use
- Actions or situations that started in the past and are still
continuing
Action
o I have been studying English for three years (for
= duration/amount)
I have been studying English since 2016 (since =
starting point)
o William has been watching tv since midday
William has been watching tv for four hours
Situation
o He has been a cleaner for 11 months
He has been a cleaner since January
o We have been together for 2 ½ years
We have been together since 2017

Difference of Has Been and Have Been

- I had been studying English for 3 years when I left the
school
o I stopped studying English (no longer study
English)
o Only use “had been” if there were two actions in
the past: one continuous action, one single
finished action
- I have been studying English for 3 years
o One continuous action only

HAS BEEN HAD BEEN

I have been studying English I had been studying English for
for 3 years 3 years when I left the school
William has been watching tv William had been watching TV
for four hours for 4 hours when he stopped to