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Stenka25 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

See it being appropriate vs. see it appropriate vs. see it as appropriate

The below sentence is from a lecture of Michael Sandel. It is a mention from a student who is suggesting the only extenuating circumstance for the defense in the case of the Queen versus Dudley and Stevens.

In the underlined part of the mention, I want to ask the relevance of using 'being' in this context.

Well, I just think that if he was making his own original idea and it was his idea to start with, then that would be the only situation in which I would see it being appropriate in any way because that way you couldn't make the argument that he was pressured, you know it's three-to-one or whatever.

Let me show you what I mean.

First, I googled about the case of "consider" which used more frequently.

"Consider it appropriate" shows 1,380,000 sentences.
"Consider it to be appropriate" shows 1,320,000 sentences.
"Consider it being appropriate" shows only 6 sentences.

So, I thing "being inappropriate" somewhat irrelevant in the context.

Then, I googled in the same way with "see."

The result was quite shocking.

"See it appropriate" shows 46,400 sentences.
"See it to be appropriate" shows only 7 sentences.
"See it being appropriate" shows 9,240 sentences.

In the case of "see," "see it to be appropriate" shows much less frequencies than "see it being appropriate."

Can you give me what you think about my question?
  

Top answer

Stenka25 I want to ask the relevance of using 'being' in this context. You can leave it out if you want. You can also substitute as .

  • Stenka25 I want to ask the relevance of using 'being' in this context.
  • You can leave it out if you want.
  • You can also substitute as .
  • to see it as appropriate .
  • The grammar of consider is different from the grammar of see -- as you have already found out.
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8 Answers
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Stenka25I want to ask the relevance of using 'being' in this context.
You can leave it out if you want. You can also substitute as. to see it as appropriate.

The grammar of consider is different from the grammar of see -- as you have already found out.

CJ
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You can also throw "find" into the mix.

I don't find it amusing.
I find it entirely appropriate.
I find him to be very entertaining.
I find it very strange.

Not, I find it being inappropriate.

Sometimes we add "as."

I consider it as being a dead issue. I consider it to be a dead
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Hi,

You might also consider that this whole original comment by the student is in English that is very casual and quite careless.

Clive
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Hi, Clive,

I agree that this comes across as an impromptu discussion (perhaps following the lecture), but I don't find it careless.
I hear this usage from responsible people.

that would be the only situation in which I would see it being appropriate in any way

Best regards, - A.
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Hi,

OK, it was a subjective comment (and I softened it by 'quite'). I didn't mean just that phrase. I meant that the whole 3-line remark was, to me, not very carefully thought out before being uttered.

Clive
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I see your point. Thanks.

Edit.Please humor me. Emotion: smile

Which is more damning? "Your English is careles
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My two cents.

I have always taken "quite" as equivalent to "completely", especially, but not exclusively, in the negative, but from several posts I've seen here over the years, not everyone takes it that way, so I never know what to think anymore when I hear it used.
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Hi,
Quite so.

Maybe it's a BrE thing.

Clive

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