Taka Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
being:URGENT!
The type of listening we would like you to adopt is different. It's listening with nothing on our minds---no interpretation, prejudice, expectation, or anticipation, This type of listening takes place in the free-flowing mode of thought. When we are listening in this way, our thoughts flows gently, and we have the capacity to become touched by life as it is being created in each moment---one instant after another. When we are listening in this manner, we can easily notice when we stray off track, out of the moment.···True listening is being open to something new without interpreting it through our past conditioning or being overly affected by our own thoughts of the event.
About 'being' above, is it a gerund, as in 'I like being alone'? Or is it these kind of 'being':
'You are being quiet today.'
'He is being nice.'
'She is being open and honest.'
?
About 'being' above, is it a gerund, as in 'I like being alone'? Or is it these kind of 'being':
'You are being quiet today.'
'He is being nice.'
'She is being open and honest.'
?
Top answer
It's a gerund, as in I like being alone .
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To me it's a gerund. "Listening" and "being" are on the same level; "listening" acts as a noun, qualified by "true", and "being" refers to "the state of being open etc...".
What do the others think?
What do the others think?
00
I agree with pieanne. One way to test it is to switch the subject and subjective complement: Being open to something new ... is true listening. Being functions as a substantive. Is stands alone and is not part of a progressive verb form as in He is being nice
00
Yes, I'd say a gerund too; the "it is X" phrase can take a colon ("it is: X"):
"True listening is: being open to something new without interpreting it through our past conditioning or being overly affected by our own thoughts of the event."
MrP
"True listening is: being open to something new without interpreting it through our past conditioning or being overly affected by our own thoughts of the event."
MrP
00
Yes! With that colon, I wouldn't be confused at all.
Anyway, thank you, everyone.
And one more question. How do you native people speakers sense the difference between these?
1:True listening is being open to something new.
2:True listening is to be open to something new.
Grammatically, 'being' in #1 is, as you say, a gerund. But I som
Anyway, thank you, everyone.
And one more question. How do you native people speakers sense the difference between these?
1:True listening is being open to something new.
2:True listening is to be open to something new.
Grammatically, 'being' in #1 is, as you say, a gerund. But I som
00
With the gerund, it's as if you're standing inside the action or state; with the infinitive, outside, and observing.
MrP
MrP
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MrPedanticWith the gerund, it's as if you're standing inside the action or state; with the infinitive, outside, and observing.
MrP
That's it! If you are standing outside the state, you don't sense the vividness!
Thank you, MrP!
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