What tense with gerund?

Question

What tense is "what with it being"? For example, "We decided not to go what with it being too expensive"

I would've assumed it's present with the gerund as an adjective, but you can't say "We decided not to go considering that it being too expensive". I wondered if it was some sort of subjunctive present progressive.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Probably the best analysis is a noun (non-finite) clause as the object of the preposition with.

A noun fits in the same position:
We decided not to go what with all the conflicts in that region of the world.

And the clause can also be in apposition:

We decided to cancel the trip, it being too expensive for us.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI wondered if it was some sort of subjunctive present progressive.

It's got nothing to do with subjunctives so you can safely put that out of your mind.

AnonymousWhat tense is "what with it being"? For example, "We decided not to go what with it being too expensive".

It has no tense because 'being' is a non-finite form. (Only finite forms of verbs have tense.)
Non-finite forms take their cue from the rest of the sentence when you want to place them in time.
In this case, the past form decided is your cue. Note how the paraphrase below has a past tense.

We decided not to go [what with it being too expensive / because it was too expensive].

CJ

What tense with gerund?

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