One thing is pretty confusing me. "Being" at the beginning can often be ommited however sometimes I should use it as it adds something extra to the meaning of the sentence - that "something extra" should be the continuous aspect. I wonder whether it is necessary to use "being" at the beginning of a sentence even in those sentences with the continuous aspect of "while". For example : "Being paid for her services this time, she was glad to work again." Can I omit "being" here as well without changing the meaning of the sentence?
Or does it differ from speaker to speaker? Because some natives do not mention anything about "the need" of using "being" at the beginning of a sentence, explaining that it does not add anything to the meaning of a sentence:-?:shock:
Back up a little. Forget the specific word, and understand that we are talking about whether or not to use the
progressive or
simple forms. That is the choice we are talking about. This is going to be a long-winded explanation because what you are playing with has a rather advanced use beyond what you have mentioned.
But rather than "tell" you the situation, I am going to try to "show" you.
Consider these rewrites:
1. In the past, she always seemed to work for free. But she got paid this time, and she was glad to work again.
2. In the past, she always seemed to work for free. But being paid this time made her glad to work again.
3. In the past, she always seemed to work for free. But being paid this time was making her glad to be working again.
In "1", I use the
simple form to tell you her status. It is a common way to write, but it is a little detached. You are informed of what happened to the character but I have not really involved you in her story.
In "2", I used the
progressive to tell you about her financial situation, but not when I tell you how she feels about that. Now I'm giving you the sense of a passage of time; the "work" is not done in an instant, and while she is doing it, she will be paid. But the use of past simple in telling you she is glad once again fails to involve you in her emotional state. I have created a sense of passing time without investing in her personally.
In "3", I used the
progressive consistently. I chose this because I want you, the reader, to be aware of the passage of time. I want you to know that her state of mind is changing over time. There are things going on in her life; this is a process going on in a living, thinking, feeling person, and I am inviting you into her world. I am trying to get you involved in her, invested in her story. I am going for immersion so you feel compelled to keep reading, to find out what happens next.
Appropriate use of the
progressive form creates immediacy; a strong sense that this is happening right now, rather than in the past. You don't use it for everything; only for the things that are important to the flow of your story...
As she walked down the street, her eyes darted everywhere. Parked cars, shadowed doorways, dark alleys. Danger could lurk close by. Maybe even now it stalked her without her awareness. Her heart hammered in her chest and she fought back tears; she had to keep it together. Safety was only a few blocks away.
Compare to:
Walking down the street, she kept her eyes darting everywhere. Parked cars, shadowed doorways, dark alleys. Danger could be lurking close by, and even now could be stalking her without her sensing it. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she was fighting back tears; she had to keep it together. Safety was only a few blocks away.
Can you feel the difference?
Now, most of your writing will probably be far more mundane than a thriller, but the function is the same; a
progressive verb tells the reader that the process matters; the time it takes, or the fact that it is still happening now, is important for some reason.
If only the fact of something is important, and not the
progressive sense of it ("she had put on sports shoes" versus "she was wearing sports shoes"), then use the
simple form. If something is completed, finished, over from the perspective of your narrative (the cars are parked, they aren't being parked right now), then use the
simple form.
There is a reason we use the
progressive, or
continuous form. Hopefully, I've shown you at least some of the basis for how/why a native speaker chooses between
progressive and
simple forms.
Watch this video.
