I’m a non-native speaker but I work for a multinational company so I have to use English 95% of the time at work.
I find myself using has/have been a lot simply because it sounds right to me.
As an I example, I have to report on a status of a task/project. When should I use the below sentences?
• The project is completed.
• The project has been completed.
In: Other
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Both examples you give are correct.
You can also say someone “is a has been” to say that they are past their usefulness.
“Is completed” is Present Perfect (*perfectus* just means “complete” or “finished” in Latin). This basically means “at the present time, all is finished.”
“Has been completed” is also Present Perfect, which basically means “this thing is done right now.”
An example of Past Perfect is “had been completed,” which basically means “at this time in the past, it was already done.”
An example of future perfect is “will have been completed,” which basically means “by this time in the future, it’ll be finished.”
In the workplace, there won’t be too much of a meaningful distinction here between those two examples of present perfect, and many native English speakers won’t be able to readily explain this nuance because they have it internalized.
Edit: thanks for the correction u/Mark_Ego
**”Has been”** is the [present perfect continuous tense](https://prowritingaid.com/has-been-vs-was), and is **used when an action started in the past but continues to the present.**
**”Was”** is the first-person and third-person singular past tense of the verb “to be.” It is **used to describe an event or state of being that happened in the past and is now concluded.**
You might use “has been” for emphasis:
“It’s still not completed?”
“No, it has been completed!”
or:
“Part 1 of the project has been completed, but the second part is still in progress”.
In other general situations, you could use either of your sentences above.
He has/she has/they have been to the shops – as a native speaker it would likely be contracted to he’s/she’s/they’ve been to the shops.
You could use either of these, but I personally would not say “is completed”, I would actually say “is complete” to be accurate.
“The project is completed” really doesn’t roll off the tongue or read right to me.
To me, the D (past tense complete**d**) interferes with the state of “is” (as “is” is present). I think we’re into nuances here though, and not hard and fast rules. I actually don’t know why, I just know it’s right somehow. Something about past and present tenses. It feels like “is completed” works better as an answer to a question rather than a statement, and even then, I’d rather say, “The project is done or finished”. This is probably even more confusing… sorry lol
I definitely prefer the second version of “The project **has been** completed” which can also change meaning, but only through inflection, depending on the word you emphasize, but in print, without inflection, is more proper.
It’s called the “perfect” tense, and it indicates something was already completed by the time in question. It’s like present tense, minus five minutes. “The laundry is washing” is present tense; “the laundry has been washed” is perfect present tense. You’re asking me now, and that job stands completed as of now. “Were you in bed at 10pm?” *”I had been in bed by 20 minutes at 10pm”*. Past tense question, past perfect tense answer. “Will you get to the store before dinner?” *”I will have gotten to the store and unloaded the groceries by dinner.”* Future question, future perfect answer. *”I’ll go to the store by dinner”* is a future answer, but it doesn’t say what you’ll have FINISHED by dinner.
I’m a professional writer, so here’s my take on what the real differences are–
To be clear, these are very similar statements, where both would probably work fine for just trying to say “the project is completed”. Saying “is completed” feels more final and bold, which in a workplace is often not considered as good. Saying “has been completed” is slightly more passive and soft, which is often considered more friendly. It’s a subtle thing, but that’s the main difference in how it is heard by other people.
Finally I’ll say that saying “has been completed” places more focus on the fact that people did work that finished the project, compared to the fact that it simply got completed.
Practically, the difference between “The project is completed” and “The project has been completed” is emphasis:
“The project is completed” emphasizes the state of the project. If this is the only information you are communicating, I would pick this form.
“The project has been completed” emphasizes the process of completing the project. While it is grammatically correct for this to be a complete sentence, it feels incomplete on its own. I would use this form if I’m trying to communicate something more about the process of completing the project, for example “the project has been completed with the help of the new team member.”
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