First I must appologize for sending in a question involving a long list of 23 sentences.All these confusing sentences, however, relate to whether we can leave out the word "being" or not. It seems to me that they are better presented together.

The question is: will the presence or absence of "being" in the following lead to any difference in the acceptability, meaning, function, or whatever, of these sentences?

The words "adjective", "adverb" etc, unless otherwise described, refer to what follows the word "being".

1 "Being" in absolute structures

(1) Other conditions (being) equal, the pressure remains constant.(Adjective)
(2) Shakespeare wrote a great number of poems, some of them (being) sonnets. (Noun)
(3) The children (being) away at school, she felt lonely at home. (Adverb)
(4) The boy (being) knocked down and injured, we rushed him to hospital in no time. (Past Participle)
(5) We stood outside the house, my gun (being) on his shoulder. (Prepostional Phrase)
(6) We stood outside the house, gun (being) on his shoulder. (Prepostional Phrase)
(7) We stood outside the house, my gun (being) in hand. (Prepostional Phrase)
(8) We stood outside the house, gun (being) in hand. (Prepostional Phrase)
(9) We stood outside the house, hand (being) in hand. (Prepostional Phrase)

I hearsay that, when the logical subject in an absolute structure is a pronoun, the word "being" can't be left out:

(10) He (being) absent, we must not make any decision. (Pronoun+Adjective)
(11) He was not suffered to go home, it (being) a stormy night. (Pronoun+Noun)

2 "Being" in non-absolute structures

2.1 Initial position

(12) (Being) unable to free himself, John lay there until rescued.(Adjective)
(13) (Being) a good insulator, rubber is often used in cables. (Noun)
(14) (Being) away at school, John and Mary talked about their likes and dislikes freely. (Adverb)
(15) (Being) assigned to an important task, the Smiths had to give up their plan of touring in Europe. (Past Participle)

2.2 Middle position

(16) John, (being) unable to free himself, lay there until rescued. (Adjective)
(17) Rubber, (being) a good insulator, is often used in cables. (Noun)
(18) John and Mary, (being) away at school, talked about their likes and dislikes freely. (Adverb)
(19) The Smiths, (being) assigned to an important task, had to give up their plan of touring in Europe.(Past participle)

2.3 Final position

(20) John lay there until rescued, (being) unable to free himself. (Adjective)
(21) Rubber is often used in cables, (being) a good insulator. (Noun)
(22) John and Mary talked about their likes and dislikes freely, (being) away at school.
(23) The Smiths had to give up their plan of touring in Europe, (being) assigned to an important task.

Thanks. And my appologies again.

1 "Being" in absolute structures

The following response is based on information in Modern English*, by Marcella Frank: Chapter 19, Absolute Constructions, p. 346-352. .

(1) Other conditions (being) equal, the pressure remains constant.(Adjective)

As at adjective, it is possible to omit being in the absolute structure. However, in this particular structure, being would most likely be included, since we have an accepted phrase "all things being equal."

(2) Shakespeare wrote a great number of poems, some of the (being) sonnets. (Noun)

Acceptable with or without being.

(3) The children (being) away at school, she felt lonely at home. (Adverb)

Acceptable with or without being..

(4) The boy (being) knocked down and injured, we rushed him to hospital in no time.

Acceptable with our without being.

Acceptable with or without being, but more likely without being. Frank says, "The participial forms of be"”being and having been – tend to be omitted in absolute constructions that give descriptive details.:

"¢ She sat despondently in a corner, her hands over her eyes.

"¢ The candidate for mayor addressed the audience, his tone confident, forceful, cajoling.

"¢ The boy came running into the room, his face and hands covered with mud."

The strong tendency to omit being would apply as well to all of the following, although they are theoretically possible with being:

(5) We stood outside the house, my gun being on his shoulder. (Prepositional phrase)

Possible with being. (But, perhaps the sentence would be better: "My gun AT his shoulder.) The inclusion of being would imply that the gun on his shoulder occurred before the standing outside.

(6) We stood outside the house, gun (being) on his shoulder. (Prepostional Phrase)

Possible with being,, but the situation is not at all clear without "my gun" or "his gun." If we mean that he is carrying his gun over his shoulder: We stood outside the house, his gun on / over his shoulder.

(7) We stood outside the house, my gun (being) in hand. (Prepositional phrase)

Possible with being. being implies that the gun was already in hand before standing outside.

(8) We stood outside the house, gun (being) in hand. (Prepositional phrase)

Not clear who has the gun, either with or without being.

(9) We stood outside the house, hand (being) in hand. (Prepositional phrase)

Possible with being, (being hand in hand) being implies that being hand in hand had started before standing outside the house. (Perhaps the two are in handcuffs, or are conjoined twins.)
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I hearsay that, when the logical subject in an absolute structure is a pronoun, the word "being" can't be left out:

(10) He (being) absent, we must not make any decision. (Pronoun + Adjective)

(11) He was not suffered to go home, it (being) a stormy night. (Pronoun + Noun)

This seems true to me as a native speaker. However, sentences (10) and (11) would not work with a noun as logical subject either: *John absent, we must not make any decision / He was not suffered to go home, *the weather being a stormy night.

A possibility for sentence (10):

(10) With him being absent....

Frank includes this kind of construction: "If a personal pronoun ˜subject' is used informally in a with absolute construction, the pronoun must be in object form: With him being sick, we'll have to do his work..

The expletives it and there may fill subject position in an absolute construction:

It being Sunday, the stores were not open....
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2 "Being" in non-absolute structures

All of these sentences (except where noted) are acceptable, with or without being. Frank states: "Initial position is preferred for absolute constructions that indicate cause, final position for constructions that are logically coordinate with the main clause."

I believe this description holds for your non-absolute constructions shown here as well.

2.1 Initial position

(12) (Being) unable to free himself, John lay there until rescued.(Adjective)

(13) (Being) a good insulator, rubber is often used in cables. (Noun)

(14) (Being) away at school, John and Mary talked about their likes and dislikes freely. (Adverb)

(15) (Being) assigned to an important task, the Smiths had to give up their plan of touring in Europe. (Past Participle)
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2.2 Middle position. About the second group, (middle position), Frank states: "Absolute constructions that appear in mid-position are often equivalents of nonrestrictive adjective clauses."

(16) John, (being) unable to free himself, lay there until rescued. (Adjective)

(17) Rubber, (being) a good insulator, is often used in cables. (Noun)

(18) John and Mary, (being) away at school, talked about their likes and dislikes freely. (Adverb)

(19) The Smiths, (being) assigned to an important task, had to give up their plan of touring in Europe.(Past participle)

2.3 Final position

(20) John lay there until rescued, (being) unable to free himself. (Adjective)

(21) Rubber is often used in cables, (being) a good insulator. (Noun)

This sentence is not acceptable because it is ambiguous: which is a good insulator, the rubber or the cables?

(22) John and Mary talked about their likes and dislikes freely, (being) away at school.

(23) The Smiths had to give up their plan of touring in Europe, (being) assigned to an important task.

Rachel
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*Modern English, A Practical Reference Guide, Second Edition, by Marcella Frank. Regents/ Prentice Hall 1993

quote:

(4) The boy (being) knocked down and injured, we rushed him to hospital in no time.

Acceptable with our without being.

quote:

(15) (Being) assigned to an important task, the Smiths had to give up their plan of touring in Europe. (Past Participle)

I thought the presence of "being" in (4) and (15) would strongly suggest the progressive aspect - "because they were being assigned/because the boy was being knocked ...", the meaning of which sound a bit uncomfortable to me. With participles functioning as postmodifiers, Quirk et al (1985:1265) explain that "unlike -ing clauses, -ed clauses can indicate progressive aspect". Do their words apply to absolute and non-absolute structures functioning as adverbials?

quote:

(17) Rubber, (being) a good insulator, is often used in cables. (Noun)

"Being" can be left out, but the remaining noun phrase would be more likelily treated as an appositive?

References
Quirk et al. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London and New York: Longman. p. 1265.

The –ed participle can apply to the progressive, and might if the verb were only "injured," or another verb or phrasal verb such as "worn out," "winded," or "shocked."

Quirk et al state that –ed clauses can indicate progressive aspect, but it does not with "knocked down," which shows a one-time event, in the past.

The same is true for "assigned," which happened once in the past, too. The sentence could be, "Having been assigned to an important task, the Smiths..."
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Yes, "a good insulator" coming directly after "rubber" is an appositive.

Rachel

Rachel, I'm so much used to the idea that being done in either adverbial or postmodifying positions involves the progressive aspect, that it took quite some time for me to take in your explanation.

Are you saying that being done, whether as adverbial or postmodifier, is not necessarily progressive, that its aspectual interpretation depends on the context, and also on the nature of the verb in question?

Following your idea, I looked up being killed in BNC. A quick look at those sentences did show that it is not always progressive - in some sentences it is; in some others it is not.

Yes, "being" does not always involve the progressive aspect, although it certainly often does.

On the other hand, "being" with verbs like "killed," as you have found, are do not always express the progressive aspect.
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It would be interesting, if you have the time, to research how often "being" involves a non-progressive aspect, and under exactly which circumstances.

Maybe the Grammar Exchange can do likewise over the upcoming holidays.

Rachel