Being?

Question

"Reuters quoted a Motorola Mobility spokeswoman as being pleased about the dismissal of the case.:

In this sentence, is the word 'being' a present participle that functions as an adjective, a gerund or an auxiliary verb to show that it is a passive voice?

Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

No, it is not passive voice.
Only past participles are used in passive voice constructions.

Anon f8r · Answer

Thank you Alphecca Stars. I forgot that. I mixed it up with "I was being attacked".

What is the part of speech for the word 'being' in that sentence?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Hongkie"Reuters quoted a Motorola Mobility spokeswoman as being pleased about the dismissal of the case.:In this sentence, is the word 'being' a present participle that functions as an adjective, a gerund or an auxiliary verb to show that it is a passive voice?Thank you.

The present participle's function in a sentence is much more variable than other words. Depending on the lexical analysis, it can be an adjective, adverb, or noun. Different grammarians and linguists can have different opinions on a particular example.

It ic clear that "being pleased about the dismissal of the case" is a participial phrase, or, as others would describe it, a reduced (non-finite clause) headed by the present participle "being."

The key to the analysis is the determination of the function of the word "as" which can be a conjunction, adverb or preposition.
In this sentence, I would judge "as" here as a preposition. The main verb quote could be considered a phrasal verb: "quote as"

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/as_2

That key decision then forces the reduced clause to have the function of a noun, thus making the head word "being" a gerund.

Being?

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