Being or Had Been — Continuous and Past Perfect Passive
Practice the continuous and past perfect passive: is being repaired, was being cleaned, had been taken — in progress vs already finished.
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Sorry about the mess — the kitchen ___ at the moment.
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is being painted
Someone is painting the kitchen right now → present continuous passive: 'is being' + past participle. 'Is painting' would mean the kitchen itself is holding a brush.
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When we got to the hotel, our room ___, so we waited in the bar.
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was being cleaned
The cleaning was in progress when we arrived → past continuous passive: 'was being' + past participle. A room can't clean anything, so 'was cleaning' and 'had cleaned' are wrong.
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By the time the firefighters arrived, all the guests ___ to safety by the hotel staff.
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had been taken
'By the time' shows the guests were safe before the firefighters arrived → past perfect passive: 'had been' + past participle. 'Were taken' doesn't work with 'by the time': the guests were already safe before the firefighters came. 'Had taken' would mean the guests took someone.
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Please don't use the lift — it ___ right now.
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is being repaired
The repair is happening now → 'is being repaired'. 'Has been repaired' would mean it's already fixed, so there'd be no reason not to use it.
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Look at all those cranes — a new shopping centre ___ next to the station. The work will take another two years.
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is being built
The cranes and 'another two years' show the work is still going on → 'is being built'. 'Has been built' would mean it's already finished.
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The police arrived while the bank ___ and caught the thieves inside.
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was being robbed
The robbery was still in progress — the thieves were inside → 'was being robbed'. 'Had been robbed' would mean it was all over before the police came.
Continuous and Past Perfect Passive: being and had been
The continuous passive is am/is/are being or was/were being + past participle and describes an action in progress at a particular moment: Please don't use the lift — it is being repaired, The police arrived while the bank was being robbed. The past perfect passive is had been + past participle and describes an action already completed before another point in the past: By the time the firefighters arrived, all the guests had been taken to safety. Choosing between them is a question of timing. If the action was still going on at the reference point, use being; if it was over, use had been. After a when-clause, a plain past simple passive (was cleaned) means the action came at that moment or just after it. The most frequent error is the active continuous in place of the passive — The kitchen is painting — which leaves out being and makes the kitchen the painter.
Last updated: · Satori Editorial