Been or bin?
been is a verb meaning “past participle of be”; bin is a noun meaning “A box, frame, crib, or enclosed place, used as a storage container”. Use been as a verb and bin as a noun (bin is also a verb: “To dispose of (something) by putting it into a bin, or as…”). They sound the same (/ˈbɪn/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) been is about 112 times as common as bin.
What is the difference between been and bin?
| been | bin | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun | noun, verb, contraction, prefix |
| Meaning | remote past form of be | A box, frame, crib, or enclosed place, used as a storage container A container for rubbish or waste UKinformalTo dispose of (something) by putting it into a bin, or as if putting it into a bin |
| Example | All the fries have been eaten | a corn bin |
| Forms | none | bins |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɪn/ [ˈbɪn] /ˈbiːn/ | /ˈbɪn/ [ˈbɪn] |
| In writing | 1,862 times per million words | 17 times per million words |
Sources: been and bin in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of been and bin
been
- 1
remote past form of be
He been had that job
bin
- 1
A box, frame, crib, or enclosed place, used as a storage container
a corn bin
- 2
UKinformalTo dispose of (something) by putting it into a bin, or as if putting it into a bin
- 3
son of; equivalent to Hebrew בן (ben)
- 4
Contraction of being
- 5
Clipping of binary
- 6
Alternative form of bi- (sometimes used before a vowel)
- 7
A container for rubbish or waste
a rubbish bin
- 8
UKinformalTo throw away, reject, give up
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, been or bin?
been appears 1,862 times per million words; bin 17 times per million words.
been 1,862 times per million wordsbin 17 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).