[reddogrog]

I could use some help in a grammar discussion between a fellow English teacher.

The sentence in question is:

Football has always been the biggest thing in David Beckham's life.

vs

Football has been always the biggest thing in David Beckham's life.

My thought is that the 1st sentence is correct but then how do I go about justifying my reason.

always is modifying been. Been is acting as a verb or is acting as a helping verb? Then what is has a verb or a helping verb?

The more we try to break this sentence down the more we go crazy