7.1  Definition

 

Be is the base form of the verb “be.”

Being is the present participle of the verb “be.”

Been is the past participle of the verb “be.” 

 

7.2  Uses of Be, Being, Been

7.2.1  Uses of Be

7.2.1.1  As the base form of the main verb “be,” after an auxiliary verb, e.g.

• You should be a good example to your younger siblings.

• He shall be the chairman of the Executive Board next month.

• She can be difficult.

• She could be just the one I've waited for all these years.

• Peter will be signing autographs this Saturday at the Center.

• Andy would be a better candidate than Peter.

• She might be a cougar, but you're being a beast.

• Kalou admits he may be forced to leave Chelsea.

• He must be wicked to deserve such pain. -- Robert Browning

• The extrasolar planets are larger than they ought to be.

• They need be very confident and certain when doing the interview.

• How could they dare be so predictable and consistent!?

• Times ain't like they used to be. – a folk song

  1. As part of the passive auxiliary or the progressive auxiliary in the future tense, eg.

• Janette will be scrutinized by everyone.  (passive auxiliary)

• I will be seeing you soon.  (progressive auxiliary)

7.2.1.3  As the base form of the infinitive, eg.

• He wants to be an engineer.

• Yao Ming would like to be playing basketball in full speed again.

7.2.1.4  As the imperative form, eg. 

• Be quiet!

• Be quick!

7.2.2  Uses of Being

7.2.2.1  Being is always used after “be” (in any form, such as: am, is, are, was, were, will be), never after “have” (or has, had). Eg.

• I am being observed in class this week.

• The little girl is being difficult.

7.2.2.2  Like present participles of other verbs, being is the main verb in the present continuous (progressive) tense, the past continuous tense, and the future continuous tense in active voice. Eg.

• The little girl is being difficult, crying all day.
        (“is being” is a verb in the present continuous tense)

• He was being friendly to her, but she thought he was trying to flirt with  
        her.
        (“was being” is a verb in the past continuous tense)

• By January I will be being here for 2 years.
        (“will be being” is a verb in the future continuous tense. However,
        some grammarians say non-continuous verbs like “being” cannot be
        used in continuous tenses, and they may say this example is incorrect.
        They will likely put the sentence in simple future tense, as “By January
        I will be here for 2 years.”

7.2.2.3  As the passive auxiliary verb, in continuous tense. Eg.

• English is being taught here.
        (present continuous tense)

• I have been being shown the picture for two hours now.
        (present perfect continuous tense)

• Jack was being reproached by the teacher.
        (past continuous tense)

• The seat will be being taken soon.
        (future continuous tense)

7.2.2.4  As a gerund, eg.

• Being alone on my birthday was no fun.

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

• Do you like being happy?

7.2.2.5  As a noun, eg.

• A human being.

• A strange being stepped out of the space ship.

7.2.2.6  Used to introduce the participle clause in a sentence. The participle clause in a sentence is generally employed to explain the main clause. However, “being” in the participle clause is often hidden, and the sentence can be written without the word “being.” Eg.

• (Being) totally unaware of the assassination plot, Caesar left for the
        Senate House.

• (Being) a resolute man, he refused to give up.

7.2.3  Uses of Been

7.2.3.1  Been is always used after “have” (in any form, eg., have, has, had, will have), which is its auxiliary verb.

• I have been a student here for two years.

• That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been  
          done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the
          sun. -- Ecclesiastes 1:9

• Big George had been threatening our friend Caulfield for a long time.

• At that pace, foreclosure notices will have been sent to more than 3.5
          million homes by the end of the year, an increase of 26 percent over
          last year.

7.2.3.2  Been, like past participles of other verbs, is the main verb or part of the auxiliary verb in the present perfect and past perfect tenses, eg.

• I have been outside all day.
        (present perfect tense, active voice, been as the main verb)

• We have been given 1500 pot plants by the gardener.
        (present perfect tense, passive voice, been as part of the auxiliary verb)

• Rosemary Burns has been there, done that and got the T-shirt.
        (present perfect tense, active voice, been as the main verb)

• Big George had been threatening our friend Caulfield for a long time.
        (past perfect continuous tense, active voice, been as part of the 
        auxiliary verb)

7.2.3.3  Been, like past participles of other verbs, is used as part of the auxiliary verb to form the passive voice in perfect tenses.

• Millions had been killed in wars.

• Our friend Caulfield has been threatened by big George.

7.2.4  Being and Been cannot be used as adjectives by themselves.

Usually participles can be used as adjectives before nouns, eg.

• broken link
        (past participle)  

• boring lecture
        (present participle)

But being or been by itself cannot.

7.2.5  Being as part of a participial phrase can be used as adjective modifying a noun or pronoun. Eg.

• Being such a lazy bum, Francis hardly studies for his exams.
        (“Being such a lazy bum” is the participial phrase that describes
         Francis.)

But been cannot.

7.3  Basic tenses with the verb Be.

The table below shows the basic tenses with the verb be. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).

 

These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to construct the tenses:

 

base

past simple

past participle

present participle

present simple

be

was, were

been

being

am, are, is

past

present

future

SIMPLE
present simple or past simple
(except future: will + be)

+

I was

I am

I will be

-

I was not

I am not

I will not be

?

Was I?

Am I?

Will I be?

SIMPLE PERFECT
have + been

+

I had been

I have been

I will have been

-

I had not been

I have not been

I will not have been

?

Had I been?

Have I been?

Will I have been?

CONTINUOUS
be + being

+

I was being

I am being

I will be being

-

I was not being

I am not being

I will not be being

?

Was I being?

Am I being?

Will I be being?

CONTINUOUS PERFECT
have been + being

+

I had been being

I have been being

I will have been being

-

I had not been being

I have not been being

I will not have been being

?

Had I been being?

Have I been being?

Will I have been being?

​

In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12 basic tenses.

 

SIMPLE

past

present

future

singular

I

was

am

will be

you

were

are

will be

he/she/it

was

is

will be

plural

we

were

are

will be

you

were

are

will be

they

were

are

will be

PERFECT

past

present

future

singular

I

had been

have been

will have been

you

had been

have been

will have been

he/she/it

had been

has been

will have been

plural

we

had been

have been

will have been

you

had been

have been

will have been

they

had been

have been

will have been

CONTINUOUS

past

present

future

singular

I

was being

am being

will be being

you

were being

are being

will be being

he/she/it

was being

is being

will be being

plural

we

were being

are being

will be being

you

were being

are being

will be being

they

were being

are being

will be being

CONTINUOUS PERFECT

past

present

future

singular

I

had been being

have been being

will have been being

you

had been being

have been being

will have been being

he/she/it

had been being

has been being

will have been being

plural

we

had been being

have been being

will have been being

you

had been being

have been being

will have been being

they

had been being

have been being

will have been being

​

Forms of "to be"

 

Am

Is

Is being

Are

Are being

Was

Was being

Were

Has

Has been

Have been

Will have been

Had been

Might have been

Will be?

Will have been?