There Has Been There Have Been | Spot Errors Fast

“There has been” and “there have been” look simple, yet they cause a lot of slips in emails, essays, and exam answers. The mix-up happens for one reason: the real subject comes after been. Your brain sees “there” first, then guesses the verb.

You’ll get a quick choice test, copy-ready patterns, and practice that matches real writing.

Why These Two Phrases Feel Tricky

In sentences with there, the word “there” isn’t the subject. It’s a starter that points to existence. The noun after been is what controls the verb.

So you don’t match has or have to “there.” You match it to the noun that follows.

There Has Been There Have Been With Noun Number

Both phrases sit in the present perfect: has/have + been. Use them when you talk about something that happened at an unspecific time before now, with a link to now. You often see a time phrase such as “this week,” “so far,” or “in the past few days.”

The choice between has and have is a number choice. If the noun after been is singular or uncountable, pick has. If it’s plural, pick have.

Noun After Been	Use	Sample Sentence
One singular countable noun	There has been	There has been a delay in processing.
One uncountable noun	There has been	There has been confusion about the deadline.
One “a/an + noun” phrase	There has been	There has been an error in the totals.
Plural countable nouns	There have been	There have been delays on several routes.
Number + plural noun	There have been	There have been three updates since Monday.
“Many / few / several + plural noun”	There have been	There have been several changes to the schedule.
“A lot of / lots of + plural noun”	There have been	There have been lots of questions about the form.
“A lot of / lots of + uncountable noun”	There has been	There has been a lot of traffic on the site.
One collective noun used as singular	There has been	There has been a team meeting each day this week.

The Quick Test That Stops Most Mistakes

When you’re unsure, cover the word “there” with your finger and look at the noun after been. Ask one question: “Is that noun one thing or more than one?”

• One thing or uncountable: pick has.
• More than one: pick have.

That’s it. No extra rules, no guessing.

What These Phrases Mean In Real Writing

“There has been” and “there have been” often report events, changes, issues, or developments that matter now. You’ll see them in updates, reports, and news-style summaries.

Time Phrases That Fit Naturally

Time phrases that keep the door open up to now pair well with the present perfect. Here are common ones you can reuse:

• this morning / this week / this month
• today (when the day is still in progress)
• so far
• recently
• in the last few hours / days / weeks
• over the past year

Since And For With These Phrases

“Since” names the start point of a period that still reaches now. “For” names the length of that period. Both pair well with the present perfect.

• There has been no update since Monday.
• There have been delays for two weeks.

If the period is finished, switch to past simple: “There were delays for two weeks last month.”

Time Phrases That Usually Push You To Past Simple

If you name a finished time, English usually switches to the past simple. That’s why these often clash with “there has been” and “there have been”:

• yesterday
• last night / last week / last year
• in 2019
• two hours ago
• at 6 p.m.

Try this swap test: if you can add “at 6 p.m.” and it still feels natural, you’re likely in past simple territory.

There Has Been Vs There Was And There Were

Writers often choose “there has been” when they want a bridge from past to now. They choose “there was” or “there were” when the event sits in a finished past time.

Watch the time cues:

• Present perfect link to now: There has been a change this week.
• Finished past time: There was a change last week.

Form And Word Order You Can Copy

These phrases follow a steady pattern you can reuse.

Affirmative Pattern

• There has been + singular / uncountable noun (+ time phrase).
• There have been + plural noun (+ time phrase).

Sample:

• There has been an increase in requests.
• There have been two power cuts today.

Negative Pattern

• There hasn’t been + singular / uncountable noun.
• There haven’t been + plural noun.

Contractions keep the tone natural in most daily writing. Use the full forms in strict formal writing if your style guide asks for it.

Question Pattern

• Has there been + singular / uncountable noun?
• Have there been + plural noun?

Sample:

• Has there been any progress on the approval?
• Have there been any changes to the date?

Agreement Traps That Catch Even Strong Writers

Most errors come from one of these traps: a long noun phrase, a distracting modifier, or a noun that looks plural but acts singular. Here’s how to handle each one.

Trap 1: A Long Noun Phrase After Been

When the noun phrase is long, your eyes can land on the wrong word. Lock onto the “head noun,” the main noun at the end of the phrase.

• There has been a list of tasks to finish.
• There have been tasks on the list to finish.

In the first line, “list” is singular, so has fits. In the second, “tasks” is plural, so have fits.

Trap 2: “A Number Of” Vs “The Number Of”

This pair flips the verb choice more than people expect.

• There have been a number of complaints this month. (“a number of” works like “many”)
• There has been the number of complaints rising this month. (“the number” is one number)

If that second line feels clunky, rewrite it: “The number of complaints has risen this month.”

Trap 3: Uncountable Nouns That Sound Like “Things”

Words like information, equipment, research, and advice don’t take a plural -s in standard English. Treat them as uncountable, so has is the match.

• There has been new information since our last call.
• There has been equipment damage during shipping.

Trap 4: Plural Nouns With A Singular Meaning

Some plural-looking nouns can act as a single unit in certain uses, like news and mathematics. In those uses, treat them as singular.

• There has been bad news today.

Links To Reliable Grammar References

If you want a quick refresher on the present perfect form and when it pairs with time phrases, the British Council present perfect reference lays out the core uses in plain language.

To see the base “there is/there are” structure that these phrases build on, the British Council page on using there is and there are is a clean starting point.

Time Marker Cheat Sheet

Use this table when you’re writing quickly and want a safe match between time wording and tense choice.

Time Wording	Common Tense Match	Sample With There Has/Have Been
so far	present perfect	There have been no errors so far.
this week	present perfect	There has been a spike in calls this week.
today (still ongoing)	present perfect	There have been three meetings today.
in the last 24 hours	present perfect	There has been a login issue in the last 24 hours.
over the past month	present perfect	There have been more sign-ups over the past month.
yesterday	past simple	There was a login issue yesterday.
last week	past simple	There were three meetings last week.
in 2021	past simple	There was a policy change in 2021.
two hours ago	past simple	There were two calls two hours ago.
at 9 a.m.	past simple	There was an outage at 9 a.m.

Common Errors And Clean Fixes

When a sentence feels off, the fix is usually small. Here are mistakes that show up a lot, plus rewrites that read clean.

• Error: There have been a problem with the file.
  Fix: There has been a problem with the file.
• Error: There has been many reasons for the change.
  Fix: There have been many reasons for the change.
• Error: There has been two emails from the bank.
  Fix: There have been two emails from the bank.
• Error: There have been a lot of traffic today.
  Fix: There has been a lot of traffic today.
• Error: There has been changes last week.
  Fix: There were changes last week.

A Fast Edit Checklist For Emails And Essays

When you’re polishing a draft, a quick pass can catch most tense and agreement slips. Run this checklist on any line that starts with “There has been” or “There have been.”

1. Find the noun after been: circle it.
2. Mark the number: singular, plural, or uncountable.
3. Match the verb: has for singular/uncountable, have for plural.
4. Scan the time wording: if you see a finished time, swap to “there was/there were.”
5. Trim clutter: if a long phrase is hiding the head noun, rewrite it so the main noun is closer to the verb.

Practice: Choose Has Or Have

Pick the form that fits best. Try to decide by the noun after been, not by instinct.

1. There (has / have) been a change in the seating plan.
2. There (has / have) been three calls so far.
3. There (has / have) been some confusion about the rubric.
4. There (has / have) been many attempts to reset the password.
5. There (has / have) been a lot of noise in the hallway.
6. There (has / have) been two assignments posted today.
7. There (has / have) been advice from the lecturer on citations.
8. There (has / have) been several late submissions this week.
9. There (has / have) been a rise in prices over the past month.
10. There (has / have) been reports of delays on the route.
11. There (has / have) been an update in the file history.
12. There (has / have) been five quizzes in this unit so far.

Answers

1. has
2. have
3. has
4. have
5. has
6. have
7. has
8. have
9. has
10. have
11. has
12. have

Where This Fits In A Larger Grammar System

These structures blend the “there is/there are” pattern with the present perfect. In speech you’ll also hear “there’s been.”

Recap: match has or have to the noun after been, then check the time wording.

In your next draft, if you catch yourself writing “there has been there have been” as a memorized chunk, pause and pick one form. The noun after been will tell you which one fits.