<p>More than often, being is usually wrong on the SAT. But, sometimes being is correct. Can someone help me understand when is being correct or not? For example, I just can not figure out why being is wrong in this sentence:</p>
<p>BEING a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States president in 1972, Shirley Chisholm won 152 delegates before withdrawing from the race.</p>
<p>Thanx</p>
<p>I would say, “AS a candidate…” “Being” is awkward and sounds wrong. Maybe someone can give you a more scholarly explanation, though!</p>
<p>It is grammatically correct very often (and in the instance cited above), but the SAT does not only test correctness but awkwardness. It just sounds bad and is more wordy than necessary to convey the same idea. So it’s wrong.</p>
<p>I’m not positive, but I feel it’s because ‘being’ is a present word, while you are referring to the past. I would probably say either, “having been”, or, “as”, as ^Maine said. :)</p>
<p>If you flip the parts of the sentences, it sounds awkward:
Shirley Chisholm won 152 delegates before withdrawing from the race BEING a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States president in 1972. </p>
<p>However, if you substitute the word “as” for “being,” it sounds much better:
Shirley Chisholm won 152 delegates before withdrawing from the race AS a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States president in 1972.</p>
<p>I good way to check some SAT grammar questions is to flip the clauses. Also, get rid of prepositional phrases to check subject-verb agreement.</p>
<p>Well, it’s a present participle, not present tense, so it can refer to things in the past, ie:</p>
<p>Sprinting as hard as he could, John won the race.</p>
<p>But it’s true that with being, it adds to the awkwardness.</p>
<p>Being is usually wrong on the SAT. I haven’t seen one question on an official SAT that had “being” as the correct answer, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>And even in cases where being is technically correct, there is usually a better answer.</p>
<p>the sat question of the day from Wed. July 26
[The</a> Official SAT Question of the Day](<a href=“SAT Practice and Preparation – SAT Suite | College Board”>SAT Practice and Preparation – SAT Suite | College Board)
the first answer, “of being…,” is correct.</p>
<p>I always be receivin’ compliments on my grammatical correctioness… TeHe!</p>
<p>^Haha!</p>
<p>I’m sorry, I have nothing to add. That was just very amusing :).</p>
<p>One way to tell whether the sentence is correct is to move the participle phrase to the end: “Shirley Chisholm won 152 delegates before withdrawing from the race being a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States president in 1972.” That definitely sounds wrong and “as” or “when she was” would be much better.</p>
<p>Actually after reading this- the first response is correct. “Being,” (in the way that you used it), is sort of present tense. A correct usage of being would be- “Being the captain of the football team, I feel obligated to give a pre-game speech.”</p>
<p>The information in the second clause just isn’t contingent on the information in the first clause, as it needs to be if you use “being.” That is, here is an example of a correct use of “being” in the same kind of sentence:</p>
<p>Being only a junior in high school, I had not thought about whether I would go to graduate school.</p>
<p>In that sentence, “being” indicates that the condition of the subject in the first clause has to do with the conclusion of the second clause. That is, the fact that I was “only a junior” explains why I hadn’t thought of going to graduate school. “When she was” or “as” describes Shirley Chisholm at the point of time when she was a candidate; “being” implies causality and narrative continuity. This is correct:</p>
<p>Being African American and a woman, Shirley Chisholm did not expect to win so many delegates; that she did was a milestone in civil rights.</p>
<p>Being afraid of heights, Martin would never go above the second floor in any building.</p>
<p>Being tired of walking, I accepted a ride from a stranger: big mistake.</p>
<p>Being unused to liquor, Martha got drunk from two beers.</p>
<p>Being a candidate for high office, I discovered, was different from advising such a candidate. [In this sentence, being describes the condition of being candidate.]</p>