Usage of "being"

Question

I found the following sentence on one of bbc earth articles that I've read. Though I can understand the meaning of the sentence without difficulty, I have some questions related to its grammar rules. Please someone tell me whether it's feasible to replace "being" in the following sentence with "is" in order to get the same meaning as the original sentence. If such a replacement is grammatically incorrect, I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me what the reason for that. In addition, is there a name for these types of constructions because I know the name of that construction, I can search it on google and find associated articles.

Their diet is comprised of 60% fruit with the stinky durian fruit being a favourite.

Reference:-

https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=things-you-need-to-know-about-orangutans

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

dileepaTheir diet is comprised of 60% fruit with the stinky durian fruit being a favourite.

There is a group of related constructions that this belongs to.

1) Being a favourite, the durian fruit comprises almost 45% of their diet.

This is a participle clause. The participle being has no auxiliary verb before it, so this is a non-finite construction. The participle clause has no subject, so we take its subject to be the same as the subject of the main clause (the durian fruit).

In this sentence its relationship to the main clause is "reason". Paraphrasing with a finite clause:

The reason that the durian fruit comprises almost 45% of their diet is that it is a favourite.

2) The durian fruit being their favourite, they make it almost 45% of their diet.

This is an absolute construction, which is a fancy way of saying that it is a participle clause with its own subject. Here the subject of the non-finite clause is the durian fruit, but the subject of the main clause is they.

3) Their diet is comprised of 60% fruit with the stinky durian fruit being a favourite.

It is possible to place the preposition with in front of a participle clause. This makes a prepositional phrase for which the complement is an absolute construction. Most of the time with is unnecessary.

(Stylistically, the with ... being ... pattern is weak. I usually tell my students to avoid it in their writing.)

More examples of category 3).

April and October are the two best months in Kentucky, with April being my favorite.
Opposition was strongest among combat troops, with almost half of them saying it was a bad idea.
The candidate has raised nearly $250,000 since July 1, with $90,000 coming from individual donors.

CJ

Usage of "being"

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