be it flying on a plane or travelling on public transport.

[Son Ho]

The sentence which I came across doesn't make sense especially the underlined words. Could you explain it to me which grammatical structure is? Thank you in advance.

" Whether these are real or not, we are led to believe our lives are in constant danger, be it flying on a plane or travelling on public transport."

 

[Son Ho]

"Flying on a plane or travelling on public" functions as a Noun phrase in the sentence with Gerunds at the beginning?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I consider them participial phrases modifying 'it'.

 

[emsr2d2]

Does "flying on a plane or travelling on public" [strike]functions[/strike] function as a noun phrase in the sentence with gerunds at the beginning?

Note the correct way to ask a question like this, indicated above.

 

[Tarheel]

Public transport = buses, trains, planes

 

[bubbha]

Replace "be it" with "whether it is".

"be it" is a more poetic form than "whether it is".

(Likewise, "be he" = "whether he is", "be they" = "whether they are", etc.)

 

[TheParser]

"Flying on a plane or travelling on public" functions as a Noun phrase in the sentence with Gerunds at the beginning?

NOT A TEACHER


Hello, Son Ho:

I agree with you that we can probably parse those -ing words as "gerunds" (nouns).

1. "Our lives are in constant danger, whether it be (is) flying on a plane or traveling on public transport."

a. "it" seems to mean "the potential danger."

b. "be" ("is" in modern English) seems to be a linking verb.

*****

P.S. If you find time, you may wish to check a good book or the World Wide Web for the topic "clauses of concession." Such sources will explain the use of the subjunctive in such clauses.