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Beomupmip Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Being or is?

I've read the sentence below from an IELTS essay (mark 9.0) and wondering if the grammar is correct or not:

"The primary problem being the attitude of general public"

As my opinion, the "being" should be "is" like this:

"The primary problem is the attitude of general public"

Could anyone give me some advice which word should be used?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

Welcome to English Forums! beomupmip The primary problem being the attitude of general public. If that's supposed to be a complete sentence...

— Ozzourti

  • Welcome to English Forums!
  • beomupmip The primary problem being the attitude of general public.
  • If that's supposed to be a complete sentence...
  • well, it isn't (it has no finite verb).
  • beomupmip The primary problem is the attitude of general public.
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6 Answers
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Welcome to English Forums! Emotion: smile
beomupmipThe primary problem being the attitude of general public.
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Thanks ozzourti for responding quickly.

The complete sentence is:

"There are a number of reasons that mean that recycling is not done as effectively as it could, the primary problem being the attitude of general public."

Could you please show me why they used "being" instead of "is" in that sentence?

Thank you.
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beomupmip"There are a number of reasons that mean that recycling is not done as effectively as it could, the primary problem being the attitude of general public."
Yes, "being" is acceptable in a subordinate adverbial clause. I can't really explain it in terms of grammar, but constructions of this type are reasonably common.

The rest of the meat is
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ozzourti"being" is acceptable in a subordinate adverbial clause.
Thank you for giving me new knowledge. So it is still correct if I use "is" in that sentence, isn't it?
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beomupmipThank you for giving me new knowledge. So it is still correct if I use "is" in that sentence, isn't it?
If you made no other changes to the sentence, you'd have a comma splice.


There are a number of reasons that mean that recycling is not done as effectively as it could, the primary problem is the attitude of general public.
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wow! Now I understand. Thank you so much, ozzourti. You are brilliant!!Emotion: happy
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