While grading essays for school, I encountered a grammatical construction that I wanted to address with some examples or exercises, but I can’t seem to find the name of it. It involves using “being” to turn something into the subject of the sentence. It sounds awkward, and is surely a weak construction. Not many kids did it, but the ones who did, did it frequently.
Some examples: “Being the leader of the organization was one of the ways he was important.” “Being around fewer people was his goal.” “Being involved in the government and being famous for speeches were among her notable accomplishments.”
What is this called? I want to find some exercises that show bad examples and have kids correct them.
I took a picture of a paper that had an example on it, but I don’t want to put that on the internet, so instead, here’s a picture of some parmesan crisps I made for dinner. I used to make and eat parmesan crisps all the time, but I stopped for some reason…
My sister and I were just talking about these! Now I want to make some. Being a reader of your website sure has its advantages!
(You’re welcome.)
Wait. I think I used it right. It has to do with a gerund? If it’s a noun, like mine and the first example you have are okay, but the second and third examples are wrong? Somebody with more knowledge will clear this up.
Being that I am not sure about this, I will not give an opinion.