Please check the grammar.

Question

Is the use of "have been being" in a sentence correct?

Rinoceronte · Accepted Answer

The question can't be answered simply. The vast majority of people (although, not everyone) do not use the combination "been being". Neither in active voice with an adjective ("It has been being hot for a week"), nor in passive voice Perfect Progressive ("The game has been being played for two hours"). But that does not mean that they are doing a good thing. In the first example, which people tend to phrase as "It has been hot for a week" the problem lies in uncontrolled substitution of the tense. Having discarded the gerund of the lexical verb "to be", you make the sentence look like it's Present Perfect. Although it has remained Present Perfect Progressive. The substitution starts a serious mess.

In the second case many people tend to substitute this correctly constructed phrase with Present Perfect ("The game has been played for two hours"). That's again a catastorphe, since it erases the border between two diametrical tenses. If you don't like "been being" in the passive voice Perfect Progressive, consider rephrasing it in active voice. But don't substitute the tenses in your mind.

And the last, for those who are really keen about English grammar, the combination "been being" is not only fully legitimate, but also quite hardly replaceable. So, when on the street, you might want to avoid "been being" in order not to be laughed. But among the educated people use it confidently.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousIs the use of "have been being" in a sentence correct?

Hi Anon;

The construction has/have been + present participle is the present perfect progressive tense. It is used with any verb that can be used in a progressive tense.

For example, go:

I am going to the market on the corner. (present progressive)

I was going to the market on the corner. (past progressive)
I will be going to the market on the corner. (future progressive)
I have been going to the market on the corner since I moved here. (present perfect progressive)

Now you ask about "be." Some verbs like be and have (meaning possess) are not used in the progressive. Be is used in progressive only when it means "behave" or "act". It is different from the usual definition. e.g.

The children are being good today. (They are behaving themselves.)

The perfect progressives of be are not natural. I would not say this:

The children had been being good, but when they ate a bag of chocolates, their behavior changed. (awkward)

My conclusion is that "have been being" follows grammatical rules for the present perfect progressive of "be," but it would never be used by native speakers.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousIs the use of "have been being" in a sentence correct?

Yes, provided it works with the rest of the sentence. It's not a combination that's used much, but there's nothing inherently ungrammatical about it.

CJ

Please check the grammar.

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