Is “has been” passive voice?
"Has been" + a past participle is the present perfect passive: "The invoice has been paid." "Has been" + an adjective or an -ing verb is active: "He has been busy," "She has been working." So "has been" can be either; the next word decides.
“Has been” combines the present perfect (“has”) with “been,” the past participle of “be.” Three patterns:
- “The invoice has been paid.” — passive. Someone paid it; the sentence does not say who.
- “The invoice has been overdue for a month.” — active; “overdue” is an adjective.
- “The clerk has been paying invoices all morning.” — active; present perfect progressive.
The present perfect passive is the voice of status updates: “Your application has been received.” It is fine when the reader cares about the result and not the actor. Switch to active when the actor matters: “We have received your application.”
Three sentences, checked
Each example below was run through our engine (v1.0.0). Amber marks the passive construction; a dotted underline marks a “be + participle” that is an adjective, not a passive.
Related forms
- Is “was” passive?
- Is “is” passive?
- Is “have been” passive?
- Is “had been” passive?
- Is “will be” passive?
- Is “can be” passive?
- Is “could be” passive?
- Is “must be” passive?
See the full list of passive voice verbs and passive voice in all twelve tenses.
Questions people ask
- Is "has been" + -ing passive?
- No. "Has been working" is the present perfect progressive, an active form. Passive needs a past participle (worked, written, paid), not an -ing word.
- How do I make "has been" active?
- Name the doer and use "has" or "have" + past participle: "The report has been filed" becomes "The clerk has filed the report."