Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Nov 2007:30 AM PST
-08:30 AM PST
Learn what truly sets the UC Riverside MBA apart and how it helps in your professional growth
Nov 2211:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 23
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease. 
Nov 2510:00 AM EST
-11:00 AM EST
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.
22 Oct 2012, 04:38
Kudos
Bookmarks
N
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
(N/A)
Question Stats:
80% (00:13) correct
20%
(01:19)
wrong
based on 12
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The answer to the question is, ROUGHLY, that you should avoid "being" when expressing the IDENTITY or CHARACTERISTICS of some individual or thing. This is because "being" is usually unnecessary in such cases; there are simpler modifiers(such as appositives) that, while absolutely impossible to use in spoken language, are better in written language.
Example:
Being a cigar aficionado, John has strong opinions on when to use single guillotine cigar cutters rather than double guillotine cutters.--->BAD
A cigar aficionado, John has strong opinions on when to use single guillotine cigar cutters rather than double guillotine cutters.----->GOOD. NOTICE THAT WE CAN SIMPLY OMIT BEING HERE.
So to sum up:
If "being" expresses IDENTITY or CHARACTERISTICS, then kill it. Otherwise, evaluate it on the same merits as you would have any other verb.
Example:
Being a cigar aficionado, John has strong opinions on when to use single guillotine cigar cutters rather than double guillotine cutters.--->BAD
A cigar aficionado, John has strong opinions on when to use single guillotine cigar cutters rather than double guillotine cutters.----->GOOD. NOTICE THAT WE CAN SIMPLY OMIT BEING HERE.
So to sum up:
If "being" expresses IDENTITY or CHARACTERISTICS, then kill it. Otherwise, evaluate it on the same merits as you would have any other verb.
12 Feb 2013, 17:02
Kudos
Bookmarks
Great job Marcab putting this together. Pretty interesting thoughts on when "being" is incorrect. Thought I'd add my two cents here and provide a framework for when "being" is indeed correct. I am planning to write a much detailed article on it as well, but for now here is a treatment of this subject from my side. 
Typically usage of "being" makes the answer choice wordy and awkward. But there are two perfectly correct usages of this word. Being cognizant of these usages is important. And make sure you do not blindly eliminate an answer choice just because you see the word "being" in it.
Correct Usage 1 - When Being is used as a noun. For example:
Being disrespectful to her elders is not an acceptable behavior.
Notice the subject here - being disrespectful to her elders
Correct Usage 2 - When passive continuous verb tense is required to communicate the meaning. For example:
The residents of this 100-year old apartment complex are being evacuated because of structural instability of the building.
Notice the verb tense here - are being evacuated - present continuous written in passive voice.
So in the cases above, "being" is correct. Now there are only a handful of official questions in which "being" is correct. And in these sentences "being" is used in one of the two correct usages as detailed above. Here they are:
OG13 Q100
Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.
GMAT Prep
Simply being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to become an invasive according to a decade-long study published in the journal Nature.
GMAT Prep
The survival of coral colonies, which are composed of innumerable tiny polyps living in a symbiotic relationship with brilliantly colored algae, is being threatened, experts say, not only by pollutants such as agricultural runoff, oil sticks, and trash, but also by dropped anchors, probing drivers, and global warming.
GMAT Prep
Performing a risky maneuver that required precision flying, space shuttle astronauts retrieved an orbiting satellite and simultaneously avoided being rear-ended by a passing ultraviolet telescope.
GMAT Prep
According to one expert, the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not so much that dogs are being bred for looks or to meet other narrow criteria as that the breeds have relatively few founding members.
A small exercise for you. In the 5 sentences above, indicate the role in which "being" has been used.
Now there are quite a few questions in which being is used incorrectly. Here are some official references from OG13: Q3, 4, 31, 49, 52, 63, 67, etc. Feel free to give your analysis of these incorrect usages as well.
Hope this helps. I look forward to your classification of role of being.
Regards,
Payal
Typically usage of "being" makes the answer choice wordy and awkward. But there are two perfectly correct usages of this word. Being cognizant of these usages is important. And make sure you do not blindly eliminate an answer choice just because you see the word "being" in it.
Correct Usage 1 - When Being is used as a noun. For example:
Being disrespectful to her elders is not an acceptable behavior.
Notice the subject here - being disrespectful to her elders
Correct Usage 2 - When passive continuous verb tense is required to communicate the meaning. For example:
The residents of this 100-year old apartment complex are being evacuated because of structural instability of the building.
Notice the verb tense here - are being evacuated - present continuous written in passive voice.
So in the cases above, "being" is correct. Now there are only a handful of official questions in which "being" is correct. And in these sentences "being" is used in one of the two correct usages as detailed above. Here they are:
OG13 Q100
Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.
GMAT Prep
Simply being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to become an invasive according to a decade-long study published in the journal Nature.
GMAT Prep
The survival of coral colonies, which are composed of innumerable tiny polyps living in a symbiotic relationship with brilliantly colored algae, is being threatened, experts say, not only by pollutants such as agricultural runoff, oil sticks, and trash, but also by dropped anchors, probing drivers, and global warming.
GMAT Prep
Performing a risky maneuver that required precision flying, space shuttle astronauts retrieved an orbiting satellite and simultaneously avoided being rear-ended by a passing ultraviolet telescope.
GMAT Prep
According to one expert, the cause of genetic irregularities in many breeds of dog is not so much that dogs are being bred for looks or to meet other narrow criteria as that the breeds have relatively few founding members.
A small exercise for you. In the 5 sentences above, indicate the role in which "being" has been used.
Now there are quite a few questions in which being is used incorrectly. Here are some official references from OG13: Q3, 4, 31, 49, 52, 63, 67, etc. Feel free to give your analysis of these incorrect usages as well.
Hope this helps. I look forward to your classification of role of being.
Regards,
Payal
Vercules
Expert
Joined: 23 Dec 2010
Last visit: 07 Aug 2019
Posts: 440
Given Kudos: 82
Status:Making every effort to create original content for you!!
Location: United States
Concentration: Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurship
Schools: Kenan-Flagler '15 (A) McCombs '15 (I) Tepper '15 (M) Kellogg '15 (I) HBS '15 (D) Wharton '15 (D) Stern '15 (WL) Simon '15 (A)
GMAT 1: 660 Q48 V34
GMAT 2: 750 Q49 V42
Expert reply
Schools: Kenan-Flagler '15 (A) McCombs '15 (I) Tepper '15 (M) Kellogg '15 (I) HBS '15 (D) Wharton '15 (D) Stern '15 (WL) Simon '15 (A)
GMAT 2: 750 Q49 V42
Posts: 440
14 Feb 2013, 00:39
Kudos
Bookmarks
aditya111
Hi Aditya,
If something is acting as a noun then you can replace another noun at its place and check whether it makes sense.
Swimming is good for health. --> we want to check whether swimming is a noun
Apple is good for health --> makes sense so swimming is acting as a noun.
Consider this example:
Being a top footballer, Messi knows his way around the ball --> usage of being is unnecessary here
In this sentence "Being a top footballer" is not acting as a noun. Can we replace "Being a top footballer" with a noun, no we can't. No noun would make sense here. Therefore "Being a top footballer" is not acting as anoun
A top footballer, Messi knows his way around the ball --> more appropriate after removing "being"
The phrase "a top footballer" is an appositive which renames another noun
Visit this link for more info about appositives: https://www.chompchomp.com/terms/appositive.htm
Being a cigar aficionado is not something to be proud off. --> more appropriate
In the sentence above the subject "Being a cigar aficionado" if replaced by a noun would make sense -- Cheating is not something to be proud of. Cheating is functioning as a noun here
Now lets consider one more example
Being a top footballer is something that Messi considers to be is proud of. --> correct
lets replace "Being a top footballer" by a noun "honesty".
Honesty is something that Messi considers to be proud of. --> makes sense, therefore "Being a top footballer" is acting as a noun.
Also visit Ron's post from which the "cigar aficionado" example has been referred.
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/hea ... t3173.html
Hope that helps,
Vercules
