I have a question about the use of "have been."

[xultar]

I'm not a novelist or anything but I hope to be one some day. Right now my writing consists of work which is 100% systems training and recreation which is writing for an Apple App Review blog.

My question right now is about the use of "have been." I hate it personally when it is used in this way, "You have been tasked with....." Why not simply say, "You are tasked with..."

Which is the better way and in what instances should one use, "have been?"

[ashling]

1. An active voice (you are)

is always more powerful.

hope that helps.

Now, you go post in my thread. LOL We seem to be the only ones here.
:hi:

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Sorry, friend, but "you are tasked" is NOT active voice

It's passive.

The test -- if you can insert the prepositional phrase "by X" after the verb, it's passive.

Passive voice will ALWAYS have a form of "to be" plus a past participle.


"He was begged by the council to refrain from going to war." Passive

"The council begged him to refrain from going to war." Active.

"He was tasked with taking the tragic news to the committee." Passive. ("He was tasked by someone out there in the dark night with taking the tragic news to the committee.")

"I have been watched for many years by the guards at the gate." Passive.

"I have watched the guards at the gate for many years." Active

"The guards have watched me for many years." Active

"The guards have been watching me all day." Active

"The guards have been ordered not to watch me." Passive.




Tansy Gold

[Tansy_Gold]

3. Tenses

"Are" is present tense.

"Have been" is present perfect.


The choice depends on the time frame you're trying to establish. That's what the various tenses do -- they put verbs into time.

Present: "I am here." This action is going on at the present moment. There is no sense of past or future, just the now.

Present perfect: "I have been here." This action is going on at the present time but it an action that began at some point in the past and is still going on.

Present progressive: "I am being here." An action that is going on now and continuing into the future. "He is driving his mother' car." "They are crossing the Alps."


Past: "I was here." This action happened in the past and is no longer going on.

Past perfect: "I had been here." The action went on for some time and was completed in the past before some other action. "I had just lit up a cigarette when the sky marshal kicked in the door." "John had secured the supplies to make sure bears wouldn't get to them but he forgot how clever the racoons were."

Future: "I will be here." This action has not yet happened but will happen in the future.


There are others; I won't bore you further. Each has its purpose and you have to decide what time frame or sequence you with to convey, then choose the appropriate tense.


Tansy Gold, drivin' by

[sybylla]

4. Tasked is not a verb - that's my peeve.

Task is a noun. I know it's borrowed all the time for use as a verb in the technical world, but I hate it. My engineering husband knows better than to use it around me in any form reminiscent of a verb.

End of rant. I apologize for raining on your thread.