38. BEING THAT, BEING AS, and BEING AS HOW

Hello, again, all of you Grammar Lovers! Today, as we continue looking at some of the most common errors in English--both the spoken and written word among us Southerners, in particular- we will examine the misuse of some oft-heard expressions: BEING THAT, BEING AS, AND BEING AS HOW. It's probably true that these conjunctions were once considered correct expressions, but with the constant changes in language, they have gone out of formal usage in today's world. Actually, some grammarians still consider the use of these expressions to be acceptable in informal conversations, but since I know you want to express yourself correctly at all times, you will want to jump on this rule like bees on a watermelon rind.

Simply put, all you need to remember is just DON'T use these expressions! Rather, use BECAUSE or SINCE. Here are some examples of the wrong use and then the correct use:

BEING THAT it's you, the price is nothing. (Just say...SINCE it's you...or... BECAUSE it's you...)

...or...

I just happen to recollect, BEING AS you speak of raccoons, that mine ran away last week. (Just say...SINCE you speak... or... BECAUSE you speak...)

...or...

BEING AS HOW you weren't at the meeting, you don't get to vote. (Say...SINCE you weren't...or BECAUSE you weren't...)

The present participle BEING is most often used safely as part of a main verb, such as in the following sentence:

Jack is BEING as low down as a snake in a wagon track. (Of course, saying "Jack is as low down..." also works.)

Used as a conjunction, it can sometimes create awkward sentences, so just remember to use SINCE or BECAUSE instead of one of the BEING expressions!

However, as a final note, let me remind you that BEING is also used other ways...correctly...

As a noun: ...a human BEING...

As an adjective: ...for the time BEING...

So... now that we have looked at the misuse of the BEING expressions, I hope you have learned something that you'll use from now on--in both your speech and writing. Have a great week and thanks so much for the good ideas. Keep passing them on! Peace and happiness to all. GG