había estado

he'd been

había estado(ah-bee-ah ehs-tah-doh)

phrase

1. (used to talk about states; third person singular)

a. he'd been

Antes de casarse con Guadalupe, había estado casado dos veces.

Before marrying Guadalupe, he'd been married twice.

b. she'd been

Había estado muy cansada todo el día, y resultó que tenía gripe.

She'd been very tired all day, and it so turned out that she had the flu.

c. it'd been

El edificio estaba en ruinas. Había estado abandonado durante mucho tiempo.

The building was in ruins. It'd been abandoned for a long time.

d. had been

Andrés había estado muy contento toda la semana pensando en que por fin se iba de vacaciones.

Andres had been very happy all week, thinking that he was finally going on vacation.

2.

(formal)

(used to talk about states; second person singular)

a. you'd been

Como había estado embarazada antes, imagino que sabía qué esperar cuando tuvo a su segundo hijo.

Since you'd been pregnant before, I imagine you knew what to expect when you had your second child.

3. (used to talk about states; first person singular)

a. I'd been

Había estado muy triste porque había perdido a mi perro y, cuando lo encontraron, me puse muy contento.

I'd been very sad because I'd lost my dog, and when they found him, I was really happy.

4. (used to talk about visited places; third person singular)

a. he'd been

Luis nos dijo que había estado en Venecia durante su luna de miel.

Luis told us he'd been to Venice during his honeymoon.

b. she'd been

Fui a París con Ana. Ella lo conocía muy bien porque ya había estado allí dos veces.

I went to Paris with Ana. She knew it well because she'd already been there twice.

c. had been

Pascual había estado en la India y nos enseñó las fotos.

Pascual had been to India and he showed us his photos.

5.

(formal)

(used to talk about visited places; second person singular)

a. you'd been

El día que nos encontramos con usted, había estado en la exposición, ¿verdad? ¿Qué le pareció?

The day we met you, you'd been to the exhibition, hadn't you? What did you make of it?

6. (used to talk about visited places; first person singular)

a. I'd been

¿Era la primera vez que ibas a Túnez? - No, había estado allí antes.

Was it your first time in Tunisia? - No, I'd been there before.