[Grammar] Present passive and being

[mrmvp]

The following text is taken from a course report.

If I changed "being" to the present passive "are" , would it change the meaning and is it correct ?

What is the difference between "being" and the present passive "are"?

(the name of the book) being the course books publisher establishes the fact that the course books have been written and approved by internationally acclaimed writers.

 

[teechar]

Do you mean by just substituting "are" for "being" without otherwise changing that sentence?

 

[jutfrank]

I don't see how the name of a book can be the publisher of a course book.

I'm guessing that the the book includes the name of the publisher in its title.

You cannot use are instead of being because the sentence already has a main verb, which is establishes. The -ing form is necessary as it creates a gerund as part of a long subject phrase.

(the name of the book) being the course book's publisher establishes the fact that the course books have been written and approved by internationally acclaimed writers.

 

[mrmvp]

Do you mean by just substituting "are" for "being" without otherwise changing that sentence?

Yes.

 

[teechar]

Yes.

Then the answer is no. It is not possible to substitute "are" for "being" in that sentence. Moreover, it would not be in the passive voice.

 

[mrmvp]

I'm guessing that the the book includes the name of the publisher in its title.

You cannot use are instead of being because the sentence already has a main verb, which is establishes. The -ing form is necessary as it creates a gerund as part of a long subject phrase.

(the name of the book) being the course book's publisher establishes the fact that the course books have been written and approved by internationally acclaimed writers.

Will you please give me some examples of "being" as a long subject phrase?


Are these sentences grammatical? If yes, what is the difference?

1-The book published by xxxxx have been designed for Arab students.

2-The book being published by xxxxx have been designed for Arab students.

 

[emsr2d2]

Will you please give me some examples of "being" as a long subject phrase?


Are these sentences grammatical? If yes, what is the difference?

1-The book, published by [name of publisher], [STRIKE]have[/STRIKE] has been designed for Arab students.

2-The book being published by xxxxx have been designed for Arab students.

Note my corrections to sentence 1. Sentence 2 doesn't work for me at all.

 

[mrmvp]

Note my corrections to sentence 1. Sentence 2 doesn't work for me at all.

Will you please explain why and how to use "being" correctly?

 

[jutfrank]

Will you please explain why and how to use "being" correctly?

That's not quite the right question. What you need to know first is how to use gerunds as sentence subjects. It just happens that the gerund form of be is being.

Being proficient at English takes a lot of practice.

 

[Phaedrus]

Will you please explain why and how to use "being" correctly?

The word being can function in different ways; however, as Jutfrank explained in Post #4, it functions as a gerund in the example in Post #1.

Within the gerund subject (X('s) being the course books publisher), being functions as a copula (i.e., a linking verb), not a passive auxiliary.

The meaning of being there is thus as simple as that of is in X is the course books publisher / the publisher of the course books.

X('s) being the course books publisher establishes Y can be rewritten like this: That X is the course books publisher establishes Y.

 

[mrmvp]

Being able to swim requires a lot of practice. Being is used here as a gerund.

Are these examples correct?

Pepsi company being a famous beverage company has been expanded in many African countries.

Haroon being the king's adviser is chosen to be the successor of the king.


"Being" in the following sentences means "because".

Being absent for five times, you will not be able to attend the incoming lectures.


Being a Friend of the company's owner , I have a high salary job.

 

[Tarheel]

Try:

Because I am a friend of the company's owner I have a well-paid job there.

 

[jutfrank]

Being able to swim requires a lot of practice. Being is used here as a gerund.

Are these examples correct?

Pepsi company being a famous beverage company has been expanded in many African countries.

Haroon being the king's adviser is chosen to be the successor of the king.

Yes.

"Being" in the following sentences means "because".

Being absent for five times, you will not be able to attend the incoming lectures.


Being a Friend of the company's owner , I have a high salary job.

No, not really. The sense of 'because' does not come from the word itself, but rather from the grammatic structure of the sentence.

 

[mrmvp]

Yes.




No, not really. The sense of 'because' does not come from the word itself, but rather from the grammatic structure of the sentence.

Thank you so much.

Can I substitute the word "being" with "that"?

In this example

Haroon being the king's adviser is chosen to be the successor of the king.

Does, "being" here mean "because Haroon is the king's adviser, he is chosen to be the successor of the king."

What I wanted to say that "being" gives a reason. Doesn't it?

Thank you for allocating part of your time to help me and other learners.

 

[jutfrank]

Can I substitute the word "being" with "that"?

No.

In this example

Haroon being the king's adviser is chosen to be the successor of the king.

Does, "being" here mean "because Haroon is the king's adviser, he is chosen to be the successor of the king."

What I wanted to say that "being" gives a reason. Doesn't it?

No, not really. See post #14.

Thank you for allocating part of your time to help me and other learners.

It's our pleasure.

 

[Tarheel]

being the king's adviser - he was the king's adviser

Being a confidant to the king, he had an inside track to becoming the king's successor.

 

[Phaedrus]

Being able to swim requires a lot of practice. Being is used here as a gerund.

Yes, it is. The whole gerund phrase is "Being able to swim." It is functioning as the subject of the sentence.

A gerund phrase is a nonfinite clause and can have a subject (an overt subject) of its own. Gerund subjects can be possessive or non-possessive:

John('s) being able to swim in the Olympics can only be attributed to his long hours of practice.

Are these examples correct?

Pepsi company being a famous beverage company has been expanded in many African countries.

Haroon being the king's adviser is chosen to be the successor of the king.

Jutfrank, do we really want to say that those sentences are correct? I would answer differently.

 

[Tarheel]

They sure don't work for me.
:-|

 

[jutfrank]

Jutfrank, do we really want to say that those sentences are correct? I would answer differently.

No, we don't. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I imagine my answer "Yes" applied to "Being able to swim requires a lot of practice. Being is used here as a gerund."

 

[emsr2d2]

Pepsi, [STRIKE]company[/STRIKE] being a famous beverage company, has [STRIKE]been[/STRIKE] expanded into many African countries.

See above. The phrase starting with "being" provides additional information about Pepsi so it should be put between two commas. However, "being" doesn't really fit in that context. If you remove "being" but keep the commas, it makes sense. Using "being" suggests that the only reason it has expanded into many African countries is that it's a famous beverage company.