Notes about 'Being'
2024-12-07
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Tayyab in Pakistan about a form of the verb "be" in English.
2Dear Teacher,
3I am always confused when it comes to the usage of "being."
4Thank you,
5Tayyab
6I'm happy to answer this question, Tayyab.
7Let's start by considering a basic way we use the verb "be" in English.
8We commonly use this verb to link, or join, a subject with its description.
9The description will often be a noun or an adjective.
10The following two examples show this:
11That man is a farmer.
12That man is rich.
13Expanding on this use of the verb "be," we can call a description of how a person feels and experiences his or her life as a "state of being."
14A state of being can last for a short or a long time.
15However, a state of being is longer than a momentary feeling.
16The following examples show this usage:
17In retirement, her state of being became more relaxed.
18His state of being has not been good in recent months.
19We can also use the word "being" to begin a description.
20This can help us describe something or someone in one sentence instead of two.
21For example, we could use two sentences to describe a man who does not speak very much with other people:
22Mr. Jones was someone who spoke very little.
23He sat quietly while others did the talking.
24But if we use the word "being," we can express this idea in one sentence, as in the following example:
25Being a man of few words, Mr. Jones sat quietly while others did the talking.
26Here is another example of changing a description from two sentences to one sentence:
27Manut was very tall. That is why he decided to play basketball instead of football.
28Being very tall, Manut decided to play basketball instead of football.
29We can also use the word "being," combined with the noun or adjective that follows it, as the subject of a sentence. Consider the following examples:
30Being a parent has helped me better understand my own parents.
31Being open to criticism will help you improve your work.
32In these examples, the phrases "being a parent" and "being open to criticism" are the subjects of the sentences.
33Lastly, we can use the word "being" as a noun to describe a highly intelligent form of life.
34Humans are beings, and somewhere in the universe, other intelligent beings might exist.
35For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English?
36We'd like to hear from you. Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
37And please include where you are from in your email, too.
38And that's Ask a Teacher.
39I'm Andrew Smith.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Tayyab in Pakistan about a form of the verb "be" in English. 2Question 3Dear Teacher, 4I am always confused when it comes to the usage of "being." 5Thank you, 6Tayyab 7Answer 8I'm happy to answer this question, Tayyab. 9Let's start by considering a basic way we use the verb "be" in English. We commonly use this verb to link, or join, a subject with its description. The description will often be a noun or an adjective. The following two examples show this: 10That man is a farmer. 11That man is rich. 12Expanding on this use of the verb "be," we can call a description of how a person feels and experiences his or her life as a "state of being." A state of being can last for a short or a long time. However, a state of being is longer than a momentary feeling. The following examples show this usage: 13In retirement, her state of being became more relaxed. 14His state of being has not been good in recent months. 15We can also use the word "being" to begin a description. This can help us describe something or someone in one sentence instead of two. For example, we could use two sentences to describe a man who does not speak very much with other people: 16Mr. Jones was someone who spoke very little. He sat quietly while others did the talking. 17But if we use the word "being," we can express this idea in one sentence, as in the following example: 18Being a man of few words, Mr. Jones sat quietly while others did the talking. 19Here is another example of changing a description from two sentences to one sentence: 20Manut was very tall. That is why he decided to play basketball instead of football. 21Being very tall, Manut decided to play basketball instead of football. 22We can also use the word "being," combined with the noun or adjective that follows it, as the subject of a sentence. Consider the following examples: 23Being a parent has helped me better understand my own parents. 24Being open to criticism will help you improve your work. 25In these examples, the phrases "being a parent" and "being open to criticism" are the subjects of the sentences. 26Lastly, we can use the word "being" as a noun to describe a highly intelligent form of life. Humans are beings, and somewhere in the universe, other intelligent beings might exist. 27For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English? We'd like to hear from you. Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. And please include where you are from in your email, too. 28And that's Ask a Teacher. 29I'm Andrew Smith. 30Andrew Smith wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 31_________________________________________________ 32Words in This Story 33verb -n. a word that describes action or existence 34adjective -n. a word that gives additional information about or modifies a noun