Participles with forms of "to be"

Question

I really don't understand how you use participles as adjectives with forms of "to be". for example: "I am fascinating"

How is this construct made up?
Is the word "fascinating" used like "awesome", so the structure would be:
subject + be (the verb) + adjective (like awesome or good)
or is it more like: subject + (be + participle)

It gets me confused because I've heard here that "be" is not used in the progressive form, when it stands alone.
In conclusion the form "He is being interested" must be wrong, when the construction goes like "be + adjective (like awesome etc.). If the construction is like subject + (be + participle = like a verb form) though, it should be correct? It comes down to the question whether you use the participle (as adjective) like a verbform with the word "to be" or like an adjective (good, awesome etc). without connection to the word "be"?!

To put it in a nutshell, which auf the following forms are considered to be proper english:

1) "He is fascinating" or "He is being fascinating"
(I'm pretty sure "is being interesting" is wrong, because in both construction cases (see above) it would be incorrect: Either "be" as standalone "being" or "being interesting" as improper tense. But the example above with "interesed" instead of the present participle makes me confused.)

2) "He has been fascinated" or "He has been been fascinated"

3) "He has been being fascinated" or "He has been being been fascinated"

I hope it is clear what I'm trying to say

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Say "I am a fascinating / interesting person."
He is fascinating. He fascinates me.

Passive forms (be + past participle)
He was fascinated / interested.
He has been fascinated.
etc.

The progressive doesn't really work because "fascinating / interesting " as modifiers are descriptions of a state of being.

Anonymous · Answer

Hmm. Could you explain the grammar following this construction (<= is this sentence proper english)? Is it like above: subject + verb (be) + adjedjective (like good, awesome or fascinating, interested etc.) or is it more like subject + (kind of verb form = be together with participle).

If I understand this correctly, the progressive forms of past participle adjectives should be possible though?

To make a list:

is interesting
was interesting
has been interesting
had been interesting
going to be interesting
will be interesting

and:

is interested
is being interested
He was interested
He was being interested
has been interested
has been being interested
had been interested
had been being interested

Correct? When would you use these progressive forms instead of the non-continuos tenses?
Would you consider this example to be correct: "He was being interested in buying the souvenir, when a man stepped into the shop and yelled at him to leave immiedeatly."

Thank you!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymousould you consider this example to be correct: "He was being interested in buying the souvenir,

No, that is incorrect. I'd say it this way.
He was showing interest in buying...

To make a list:

is interesting: He seems interesting until you really listen to him.
was interesting That book was interesting. I'd recommend it.
has been interesting The lecture series has been interesting so far.
had been interesting The lecture had been interesting until the speaker started talking in a monotone..
going to be interesting The experience of going down a zip line is going to be interesting.
will be interesting The experience of going down a zip line will be interesting.

and:

is interested Bob is interested in Mary's sister.
is being interested No.
He was interested Bob was interested in Mary's sister.
He was being interested No.
has been interested Bob has been interested in Mary's sister for several months.
has been being interested No.
had been interested Bob had been interested in Mary's sister until he found out she had been jailed for stabbing her ex-husband.
had been being interested No.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousis interesting ... is interested ...

There are many participial adjectives that form pairs like this. You might say that the meanings go in opposite directions. Note how one verb generates two adjectives (below). We know they are adjectives because we can add "very" to them, which you can't do to a true verb. (*Tom is very eating is impossible, so eating can't be an adjective here.)

Verb .............................. Adjective in -ing .............. Adjective in -en
Sports interest Peter. > Sports are interesting. / Peter is interested.

That game is interesting. That story is very interesting.
Peter is very interested in games. Paul is interested in sports.
___________________

What is causing the psychological state is -ing / The person feeling the psychological state is -ed
interesting / interested (in)
boring / bored (by)
tiring / tired (of)

To summarize, a great many verbs of the "Amuse-type", of which there are more than 200, can be used to derive pairs of adjectives like these. aggravate, amuse, astound, baffle, disconcert, fascinate, gratify, infuriate, overwhelm, puzzle, shock, stun, touch, ...
__________________

Strangely, perhaps, putting these in tenses other than the present can sometimes make them seem closer to verbs. George was shocked by the way he was treated. Here we might think of this as a state (You could even add "very" to emphasize the effect) or as an event — in other words as an adjective or as a verb. You often need to consider the context in order to decide whether you're dealing with an adjective or a verb.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hmm... So all continuos forms are not used. But why can you find a grammar phrases like "He was being careful" (in todays questions on this board) being correct? Here "be" is used in a continuos state (can't be) and careful is an adjective. That somehow ruins the concept....

My conclusions are:
- You can't say "He is being careful, good, awesome", because "be" can't be continuos
- You can't say "He was being interesting", because "be" connects to the participle to form a somehow adjective, when it's in context.
- You can't say "He was being interested", because "be" would be continuos and "alone" - and that can't be, only in real verb forms.

BUT !!! When you say "He was being interested in turtles" instead of "He was being interested" => interested would work as a verb and then the be would connect to the verb and wouldn't be standing alone, so it becomes a perfect english sentence, like "He was being caught by tigers". Correct?

Thx!

Fivejedjon · Answer

Anonymous- You can't say "He is being careful, good, awesome", because "be" can't be continuous

You can. It can

When BE has the meaning of 'behave in a certain way', the continuous aspect is normal and natural.

My son is going through a diffficult stage, but he is being good today.

I can't think of a natural context is which someone could be being interesting, but that does not mean it's impossible.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Anonymous "He was being interested in turtles"

That doesn't work.

Anonymous "He was being caught by tigers"

You can't say that. 'He was being chased by tigers is OK, because that process can have duration. The act of being caught is generally a momentary one, and the continuous aspect is not normally appropriate. Note that the 'being' I underlined is not part of a continuous aspect; it's a gerund.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymous. But why can you find a grammar phrases like "He was being careful" (in todays questions on this board) being correct?

"He was being careful"
That is fine, because it means "He was acting in a careful manner." It is easy to imagine how a person would act when he wants to be careful. They would plan ahead, use safety equipment, proceed slowly, have a backup, etc.

He was being interested / interesting.
That is not good because it's hard to imagine how a person would act when he wants to be interesting.

Anonymous · Answer

Now you have destroyed all my grammar buildings I've constructed...

My actual question was how this grammar structure is built, whether it is be (as a stand alone form) + participle form or be connecting the participle creating a kind of verb form.

A) (He) + (was being) + (caught) = (He) + (was being) + (good)
or
B) (He) + (was being caught) = (He) + (was good)

I don't know whether the participle behaves excactly like "good" or "awesome" (=> words which don't have any verb aspects) or if it somehow combines with the "be" form BUT is seen as an adjective phrase intstead of a verb phrase.

"I was being interesting" can't be a proper tense form, so I guess hypothesis A) to be correct?

Fivejedjon · Answer

AnonymousA) (He) + (was being) + (caught) = (He) + (was being) + (good)

I have already told you that 'He was being caught' is not a natural construction.

Had you used 'chased' instead of 'caught', your equation isn't particularly helpful. In both sentences. the 'was being' is a past progressive form of BE, but in the first sentence it is part of a past progressive passive construction; in the second it is a past progressive active construction. In the first sentence 'was being' is an auxiliary verb form. In the second , 'being means behaving in a .... way'.

Participles with forms of "to be"

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