leaving out ‘being’?

Hi, Deepcosmos,

@deepcosmos posted:

“The way we present ourselves can speak more eloquently of the skills we bring to the table, if we actively cultivate that presentation. Nobody likes to be crossed off the list before being given the opportunity to show others who they are. Being able to tell your story from the moment you meet other people is a skill that must be actively cultivated, in order to send the message that you’re someone to be considered and the right person for the position.”

My question is whether we can leave out “being“ in above sentence. I assume as follows;

1. If we regard this ”being” after the preposition ‘before’ as a part of a passive gerund(being given), then, the leaving out maybe not good.

2. But if we regard the underlined sentence is either a participle construction where the conjunction ‘before’ is used for emphasis, or an adverbial clause where “we are” has been omitted, then, the leaving out may be possible.

I'm not sure what you mean to say under (2) above. The truth is that you need "being" above, being short for "before they are given the opportunity ..." That is, "being" refers to the subject "nobody." "Being" can be eliminated with conjunctions like once, when, while, but is necessary after before, after.

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

Hi, Deepcosmos,

I'm not sure what you mean to say under (2) above. The truth is that you need "being" above, being short for "before they are given the opportunity ..." That is, "being" refers to the subject "nobody." "Being" can be eliminated with conjunctions like once, when, while, but is necessary after before, after.

Hi, Gustavo,

About above (2) please note my two examples;

1) Before (being) given this medicine, read all of this leaflet carefully. (a participle clauses)

2) Before (you are) given this medicine, read all of this leaflet carefully. (an adverbial clause)

In these cases 1), 2) we can omit "being", can I?

But,

3) Before (being) given this medicine, read all of this leaflet carefully. ("being given" as a passive gerund)

In case 3) I think the "being" omitting isn't possible.

So, I'm still confused if I can leave "being" out or not in my original sentence.

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

"Being" can be eliminated with conjunctions like once, when, while, but is necessary after before, after.

Hi, Gustavo,

You've already given me a hint - "but 'Being' is necessary after before, after", which you mean for the case of participle clauses.

However, in case 2) Before (you are) given this medicine, read all of this leaflet carefully. (an adverbial clause), we can omit "you are" and then we get 2-1) "Before given this medicine, read all of this leaflet carefully." (the same subject and verb "be" in subordinate clause abbreviated at the same time), which is still gramatically correct.

With this reason, could I allege we can delete "being" in the original sentence?

I still feel that "being" is necessary, or at least advisable. Any thoughts, David?

@Gustavo, Co-Moderator posted:

I still feel that "being" is necessary, or at least advisable. Any thoughts, David?

I agree with you, Gustavo, that "being" is needed. Indeed, I find the following two sentences you have proposed, Deepcosmos, to be ungrammatical:

• *Nobody likes to be crossed off the list before given the opportunity to show others who they are.
• *Before given this medicine, read all of this leaflet carefully.

I am not sure what has tempted you to think that it is possible to omit "being" in such sentences, Deepcosmos. Here is more evidence that it is a misguided idea:

(4a) Before being painted, the house was powerwashed.
(4b) *Before painted, the house was powerwashed.

(5a) Before being climbed, the tree was watered.
(5b) *Before climbed, the tree was watered.

(6a) Before being performed, the piece had to be composed.
(6b) *Before performed, the piece had to be composed.

Where is your quotation taken from, Deepcosmos? When I Google it, I just see a post that you made at another forum and a bunch of Hangul script.

Hello, David and Gustavo, appreciate on your attending my problem.

1. The source of above paragraph is unknown, which is among the problems of regular test for high school students made up by our Education Office.

2. When a friend of my mine asked me if we could leave out the above 'being' in the original sentence, I googled quite long time and found hundreds of thousand of results which were searched with the terms - "before given the chance/opportunity" - including following sentences, somewhat reliable ones;

1) I did not know how to be a “good” teacher before given the opportunity; I did not know how to be a cogent speaker before being asked to unfurl my life story on a global stage. And that made me realize that no one knows how to do it before actually doing it.

https://voices.berkeley.edu/ar...eaders-josh-halstead

2) ... speed with which all ideas vanish and fall into oblivion before given the chance of maturing and ageing properly in our era of thoughts and things calculated, ...

https://books.google.co.kr/boo...hance%22&f=false

3. in addition, the concerning explanation of Practical English Usage occurred to me;

p. 499, 5. ‘leaving words out’

However, after if, when, while, until, once, unless and (al)though, a pronoun subject and the verb be can often be dropped, especially in common fixed expressions like if necessary.

1) I’ll pay for you if necessary. (= ... if it is necessary.)

2) If in doubt wait and see. (= If you are in doubt...)

3) When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Cook slowly until ready.

4) Once in bed, I read for twenty minutes and then turned out the light.

4. Thus, I assumed the above 'being' might be left out but wasn't sure. With your pointing out now I've come to think this 'being' is needed even in an abbreviated subordinate clause, since the conjunctions like before, after aren't included in the list of above rule - a pronoun subject and the verb be can often be dropped.

I'm always really glad to have your nice and reliable comments, explanations whenever I suffer from problems.

@deepcosmos posted:

4. Thus, I assumed the above 'being' might be left out but wasn't sure. With your pointing out now I've come to think this 'being' is needed even in an abbreviated subordinate clause, since the conjunctions like before, after aren't included in the list of above rule - a pronoun subject and the verb be can often be dropped.

Yes, Deepcosmos, "being" is needed in all such sentences, even though you are able to find examples of incorrect uses of English on the Internet. The three examples you quote are incorrect. "Before" and "after" are never conjunctions, even when they are complemented by finite clauses. They are prepositions.

@David, Moderator posted:

Yes, Deepcosmos, "being" is needed in all such sentences, even though you are able to find examples of incorrect uses of English on the Internet. The three examples you quote are incorrect. "Before" and "after" are never conjunctions, even when they are complemented by finite clauses. They are prepositions.

Hi, David, thanks a million!!