had been been

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase 'had been been' is not correct and is not a usable phrase in written English.
It is not a common phrase and would not make sense in the context of a sentence.

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

News & Media

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

60 human-written examples

Pyatt had been been benched for the previous two games.

The New York Times - Sports

He had been been a student at White Knoll High School, located in Lexington, South Carolina.

Independent

Ivanov said the constitution had been been violated and appealed "for reasonable and responsible behaviour".

The Guardian

No reply had been been received so far from the Government, a delegation spokesman said.

The New York Times

Mr. de Ronceray and Mr. Claude had been been arrested and harassed by Mr. Duvalier.

The New York Times

In between times, Fletcher had been been a record purchase for Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Guardian - Sport

The investigation also reveals that Clerico had been been involved in an on-duty collision before.

The Guardian

Carlos Fuentes had been been the subject of scores of monographs and dissertations, even before his papers became available for research at Princeton.

Princeton University

The most famous transgender person in the world had been been recommended to Field by a mutual friend.

Independent

Another son Scotty, 15, survived after being pulled from the rubble, while his father Jose, 58, had been been working.

The Times

The reforms they opposed had been been passed by the very body of which they are a member and had been been approved by the US supreme court, the guardian of the very constitution they claimed to be defending.

The Guardian - Opinion

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Avoid using the phrase "had been been". It is grammatically incorrect. Use "had been" instead.

Common error

Don't repeat "been" after "had". The correct past perfect construction uses "had + been + past participle" or "had + past participle". Repeating "been" introduces a grammatical error.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "had been been" is a grammatical error resulting from the incorrect repetition of the auxiliary verb "been" in the past perfect construction. As Ludwig AI confirms, this phrase is not grammatically correct and should be avoided.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

38%

Academia

14%

Science

13%

Less common in

Formal & Business

6%

Reference

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "had been been" is a grammatical error and should be avoided in both formal and informal writing. While it appears frequently, particularly in news and media sources, it is not considered correct English. Correct alternatives, such as "had been", should be used instead to ensure clarity and grammatical accuracy. According to Ludwig AI, the phrase is not a usable phrase in written English.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

had been

Corrects the grammatical error by removing the second "been", resulting in a standard past perfect tense.

had previously been

Adds "previously" to emphasize that an action occurred before another point in the past.

had already been

Adds "already" to highlight that an action was completed before a specific time.

had then been

Emphasizes a sequence of events, indicating something happened after a prior event.

had subsequently been

Implies that an action followed another action in the past, emphasizing the sequence.

had in the past been

Rephrases to include "in the past" for emphasis on a past state or condition.

had formerly been

Uses "formerly" to indicate a previous state that is no longer current.

had once been

Uses "once" to denote that something was true at one point in the past.

had, in fact, been

Inserts "in fact" to emphasize the truth or reality of a past situation.

had actually been

Adds "actually" to stress the genuine or real nature of a past event.

FAQs

Why is "had been been" considered grammatically incorrect?

The phrase "had been been" is incorrect because the auxiliary verb "had" only requires one "been" to form the past perfect tense. The second "been" is redundant and creates a grammatical error.

What is the correct way to use the past perfect tense?

The past perfect tense is formed using "had + past participle". For example, "I had eaten", "She had gone", or "They "had seen"" are correct.

Can I use "had been been" in any context?

No, the phrase "had been been" should be avoided in all formal and informal writing as it is grammatically incorrect. Use "had been" or rephrase the sentence for clarity and correctness.

What are some alternatives to using "had been been"?

Instead of "had been been", use the correct past perfect form "had been". For example, instead of saying "It had been been done", say "It "had been done"".