had been
Existed before now
Had been is the past perfect form of "be," indicating a state or condition that existed before another past event.
It places one past situation earlier than another: She had been a teacher before she became a writer.
In passive constructions, it shows an action completed before a later past moment: The house had been sold by the time we arrived.
With present participles, it forms the past perfect continuous: They had been waiting for hours.
- used to bePast state phrase
- existedHad being previously
- onceAt one time
- pastTime already gone
- formerPreviously holding a position
previously · already · time was · happened · occurred · became · lived · back in the day · stayed · gone · long gone · no longer · finished · experienced · underwent · endured · survived · witnessed
- perfect tensespast perfect, present perfect, future perfect
- conditionalsif, then, if clause, if clauses, else