How much do you understand?
Take the listening test for this video and get feeback on your English Listening skills.
You can also get useful information about the vocabulary used in the conversation and tips on why we are using this kind of grammar.
‘Have been‘ is a phrase using the Present Perfect tense.
‘Been‘ is the perfect form of the verb ‘be‘. This verb has many forms, including ‘am‘, ‘is‘, ‘was‘ and ‘were‘.
In the same way that we would say “I am happy” in the Present tense, we can say “I have been happy” in the Present Perfect.
Just like we can say “He is working” in the Present Continuous tense, we can say “He has been working in the Present Perfect Continuous.
We can use Adjectives (happy) and +ing Verbs (working) after ‘been‘.
It is actually quite simple. You probably already know the classic explanation ‘We use the Present Perfect to connect a Past event to the Present”. What that really means is we are talking about an experience we have had or are currently having and connecting it to this conversation we are having right now.
For example, when I ask Dan “How have you been?” I am asking him if anything has happened to him recently and how he feels now.
If I asked Dan, “How are you?” we are only focusing on the situation right now and the answer is almost always, “Fine, and you?”.
“How have you been?” creates more options for discussion. The Present Perfect creates an open topic. Dan has a choice to talk about anything that has happened recently and explain how it has made him feel. However, “How are you?” is a closed question and doesn’t help us have a natural conversation.
We use the Present Perfect to open up topics. The easiest way to think of it is like a newspaper headline or main title. If you say “The work has been interesting” then you have opened up this as a topic and are signalling to your speaking partner that you want to talk about this. You should then go on to explain, give details or give examples of why the work was interesting. If you don’t explain, your partner will proabably ask you questions about it.
This is why we usually use Present Perfect phrases at the start of our statements and provide details after, usually with the past simple.
For native English speakers, we often contract the have/has and say ‘I’ve‘ or ‘It’s‘. For more examples of how we use ‘Have Been’ phrases, watch the video again and listen closely for us saying ‘been’. After these statements, you will hear us explain or summarise why.
You’ll need to sign in to take the test or comment.
It’s free and you get access to all the quizzes on the site, feedback on your English and invitations to online events.
My name is Mike O’Malley and I am currently developing Elevator English and teaching Business English professionals like you online.
If you are interested in improving your English, I can help. Click on the button to learn more.
Elevator English is just getting off the ground. We are constantly learning and your feedback will really help us get to the top.
If you would like to learn more click the button. Alternatively, leave a comment below.
