The lift sentence reports a repair with a useful result now. The road sentence places resurfacing in progress this week. Both are passive, but the auxiliary chain gives a different view of time.
The idea
Perfect passives use has/have/had + been + past participle. Continuous passives use am/is/are/was/were + being + past participle. Put the first auxiliary before the subject in questions: Has the part been ordered? Keep the remaining words in order.
Examples
- The lift has been repaired, so we can use it again.
- The road is being resurfaced this week.
- The tables had already been cleared when the next guests arrived.
- The paintings were being packed when the alarm rang.
- Has the replacement part been ordered yet?
- The original documents have been kept here for decades.
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Watch out
Do not swap been and being. Perfect does not always mean a situation has ended: the documents may still be kept here. Long forms such as has been being repaired are possible but uncommon; an active rewording is often clearer.
Try it yourself
Choose the correct option. The road is ___ resurfaced this week. (being / been)
Show answer or example answer
being
Is being resurfaced presents work in progress. Is been is not the required auxiliary chain.
The repair is complete. Choose the form that reports this result. The lift ___ repaired, so we can use it again. (has been / is being)
Show answer or example answer
has been
Has been repaired reports the stated completed repair and its present result. Is being repaired would present the work as ongoing.
Choose the correct option. The tables had already ___ cleared when the next guests arrived. (been / being)
Show answer or example answer
been
Past perfect passive needs had been cleared. Clearing was already complete before the later arrival.
Practice round
Answer questions and rebuild English sentences to practise. Your score is shown.
Choose the correct option. The road is ___ resurfaced this week. (being / been)
The repair is complete. Choose the form that reports this result. The lift ___ repaired, so we can use it again. (has been / is being)
Choose the correct option. The tables had already ___ cleared when the next guests arrived. (been / being)
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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Report one completed repair and one repair in progress using different passive forms. Then explain why have been kept here for decades can describe storage that still continues.