When and How to Use 'Being' - 'to be' in the Continuous Tense (AJ #19)

Hello. This is Jack from ToFluency.com and this is Ask Jack, the free series where I

answer your questions about learning English and the English language. Today, we have a

question from Vitaly. So, take it away, Vitaly. Vitaly from Russia asks, "When and how can

I use ‘being’?" Thank you for this great question. So, I’m

going to go through a few different ways that you can use being. The first thing to know

is that we don’t normally use ‘to be’ in a continuous tense. Here’s an example.

She is 33, not she is being 33. Now, hopefully she is being 33 sounds strange to you and

this is because you have internalized the rules and the patterns and it just sounds

weird saying that. So, we don’t normally use ‘to be’ in the continuous tense. Another

example is, I am tired, not I am being tired. However, in some cases, we can use ‘to be’

in a continuous sense to describe temporary behaviors or actions. Here is an example: She is being silly today.

So, we’re not saying that she is a silly person because that, when we say that we say

she is silly. But, it’s a temporary behavior. She is being silly today. Another example

is “You’re being really selfish.” So, maybe this person isn’t normally selfish

but right now this person is being really selfish. “They were being extremely rude.”

They aren’t normally rude. So, that’s given you an example of how we use it to describe

people, they aren’t normally rude but in that moment they were being extremely rude.

Now, we can also use being when we’re dealing with verb patterns and this is true for other

verbs. For example, “I hate being late.” I hate being late. So, when we use hate, a

lot of the time we use being or the gerund, “I love being right.” So, I’m sure you feel

this too. I love being right. And then, in the imperative: “Stop being silly.” So,

parents say this to their children, “Stop being silly or stop being so silly.”

We can also use being as a subject or after prepositions. For example, “Being an English

teacher is a lot of hard work but it’s fun.” Being an English teacher is a lot of hard

work but it’s fun. Being intelligent doesn’t mean you make good decisions. And then, after

preposition, “The best thing I like about being older is…”

That has given you an overview of how we can use this word in English. Now, remember, it’s

not normally used in the present continuous tense but in certain circumstances and situations

you can use it to describe temporary behaviors. Now, to learn more about how you can use this

word, click the link now. It’s going to give you more examples and a further explanation

and if you haven’t done so already, download my free book. It’s called the 5-step plan

for English fluency and it’s going to show you how you can reach a higher level of English.

So, thank you for watching this video and I’ll see you next time.