dear maccs


dear maccs,


thanks for your kind attention on my inquiry.. only thing i am looking for a sentence that can use...



had and have been

asked Oct 26 '11 at 11:03 murthy New member

1 answer


"Have been" is the present perfect simple conjugation of the verb 'to be' for all persons except the third-person singular (he/she/it).


The present perfect simple is used to refer to something that happened or began at a point in the past, but is clearly relevant to something in the current moment.  It should be considered and used more like a past tense, since the logic of its use it for the past tense.


Have you been to Spain? (We are discussing Spain now and I want to know if you were there before.)


No I have not, but I have been to Greece and Italy.  (I was there in the past, but my visits there are important for our discussion about travels now.)


"Had been" is the past perfect simple conjugation of the verb 'to be'. This is the conjugation for all persons and numbers.  


We use this construction to talk about something that began and finished in the past and is relevant to some other action or situation that also occured in the past.


Where had you been before you travelled to Greece? (We are discussing your past trip to Greece now and I want to know where you visited before that.)


I had been to many places in Latin America before I visited Greece. (In relation to my past travels to Greece, I have also travelled to these other places.)

link comment edited Oct 27 '11 at 14:48 Kimberly Expert

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