difference between has been , had been , have been


use of being  and use of ; semi colon

asked Aug 24 '11 at 09:58 nairsadashiv New member

1 answer




Present perfect simple:


The present perfect is used to talk about a fact or situation that began at some point in the past and it relevant to the present moment.


Have you seen Star Wars?


They have been in Italy for the last 3 weeks.


Has been -- third person singular present perfect.


He has been a great friend to me.


Have been --first person singular & plural, third person plural present perfect.


I have been sleeping too little.


We have been happy taking care of the house.


They have been having personal issues.


Past perfect simple: 


The past perfect is used to discuss something that started before some relevant point in the past, often used with 'before'.


Before I heard that she was hit, I had seen her walking home alone.


They had payed all their bills before they left on vacation.


He had been to France many times before he visited Normandy.


Being is the present participle of the verb to be.  Being is used with the present, past, and perfect continuous forms.  


They are being silly.


He has been being silly all night. (He has been acting silly all night.)


I was being silly.


The semi-colon is used to join two complete thoughts/sentences into one sentence.  The semi-colon is used when the two phrases are closely and logically related.  In this way, the semi-colon is the only punctuation mark that can always be replaced by another punctuation mark.


"Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember." (Oscar Levant)


Semi-colons are also used to split up long clauses in a list.


If you have any other questions about these things, consider checking out our Grammarly Handbook.



link comment answered Aug 26 '11 at 03:20 Kimberly Expert

Your answer

Write at least 20 characters
