Distinguishing Between Been & Being

Been vs Being

Been and Being are two words that are often confused when it comes to their usage since been and being are both forms of the verb ‘to be’. Been is the past participle form of the verb ‘be’ while being is the present participle of the verb ‘be’. The word been is used in the perfect continuous form of verbs ‘to rain’ and ‘to go’ as ‘has been raining’ and ‘has been going’ respectively. On the other hand, the word ‘being’ is used in the sense of ‘as he/she/it is’. This is the main difference between the two words, been and being.

What does Been mean?

The word been is used in the perfect continuous form of the verbs. Observe the following sentences:
It has been raining from the morning.
She has been learning music for quite some time now.
She had been writing books since her childhood.
In all the sentences, you can find that the word been is used in the perfect continuous form of the verbs ‘to rain,’ ‘to learn,’ and ‘to write’ respectively. The first two sentences are in the present perfect continuous tense while the last sentence is in the past perfect continuous tense. It is important to know that the word been cannot be used independently. It has to be used either with ‘has’, ‘had’ or ‘have’ to convey meaning.

What does Being mean?

On the other hand, the word being is used to mean as he/she/it is. Observe the two sentences given below:
He could not get there being short.
She did not give him anything being suspicious.
In both the sentences, you can find that the word being is used in the sense of ‘as he is’ and ‘as she is’ respectively. Hence, the meaning of the first sentence would be ‘he could not get there as he is short’, and the meaning of the second sentence would be ‘she did not give him anything as she is suspicious’.
It is interesting to note that the word being is sometimes used in the sense of ‘a living being’ as in the sentence given below.
The various beings of this universe breathe air.
In this sentence, the word being is used in the sense of ‘a living thing’ or a ‘living being’. At the same time you will not that here being is used as a noun instead of being used as a verb as in the earlier examples. Also, unlike the word been, the word being can be used independently.

What is the difference between Been and Being?

• Been is the past participle form of the verb be while being is the present participle of the verb be.
• Been is used in the perfect continuous forms of the verb.
• Being is used to mean ‘as he/she/it is.’
• The word being is sometimes used in the sense of ‘a living being’. This is when being is used as a noun.
• The word been has to be used either with ‘has’, ‘had’ or ‘have’ to convey meaning. Been cannot be used independently.
• On the other hand, the word being can be used independently.

Key Takeaways

• Been is the past participle form of the verb ‘be’, while being is the present participle form of the verb ‘be’.
• Been is used in perfect continuous forms of the verb and must be used with ‘has’, ‘had’, or ‘have’, while being can be used independently.
• Being is used to mean ‘as he/she/it is’ and can also be used as a noun to mean ‘a living being’.