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Is this correct, "You, being a doctor are/is asking me about medicine"?Thanks.

GPY · Accepted Answer

Maybe you mean this:

"You, a doctor, are asking me about medicine?"

Fatimah0786 · Answer

Thanks for answering. Yes, I did mean that, but why can't we use 'being a doctor'?  I have heard lots of people using such a construction.

GPY · Answer

"You, being a doctor, ought to know about medicine."
"You, a doctor, are asking me about medicine?"

For some reason, "being" seems to fit less well in the second sentence than the first. I am not exactly sure why.

Fatimah0786 · Answer

What is the difference between, "I, being her husband has some responsibilities towards her" and "I, as her husband has some responsibilities towards her"?
Thanks.

Cool Breeze · Answer

GPY"You, being a doctor, ought to know about medicine.""You, a doctor, are asking me about medicine?"For some reason, "being" seems to fit less well in the second sentence than the first. I am not exactly sure why.

Being has a causal meaning in contexts like this. I was taught some English clause equivalents in school at age 16. One of the causal clause equivalents was this: Being tired, I went to bed. (Because I was tired, I went to bed.) I think in the Anglo-Saxon world many people call these structures reduced clauses.

Thus: Because you are a doctor, you ought to know about medicine.

CB

GPY · Answer

Cool BreezeBeing has a causal meaning in contexts like this. I was taught some English clause equivalents in school at age 16. One of the causal clause equivalents was this: Being tired, I went to bed. (Because I was tired, I went to bed.) I think in the Anglo-Saxon world many people call these structures reduced clauses.Thus: Because you are a doctor, you ought to know about medicine.

Thanks, yeah, that sounds right, now I've read it correctly (for a moment I read "causal" as "casual"!)

GPY · Answer

fatimah0786What is the difference between, "I, being her husband has some responsibilities towards her" and "I, as her husband has some responsibilities towards her"?Thanks.

The meanings are pretty similar. It should be "I ... have ...", and you also need a comma after "husband".

Fatimah0786 · Answer

Thanks for answering, CB and GPY. 1.Even though 'being' is a causal, why can't we use it in the sentence "You, being a doctor, are asking me about medicine"? 2.Is there no difference in 'being' and 'as' in other sentences as well?

GPY · Answer

fatimah07861.Even though 'being' is a causal, why can't we use it in the sentence "You, being a doctor, are asking me about medicine"?

"You, being a doctor, are asking me about medicine" and "You, a doctor, are asking me about medicine?" have quite different meanings. The first one, which seems a fairly unusual thing to want to say, seems to assume a context where it is normal or expected for a doctor to ask me about medicine. The second one expresses surprise that a doctor, who ought to be an expert in medicine, is asking me, implied to be a lay person, about the subject.

fatimah07862.Is there no difference in 'being' and 'as' in other sentences as well?

You would have to give an example. Otherwise, "being" and "as" have too many uses for the question to be worthwhile.

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