Grammer Question: "Being" and "Whereby"?

<p>Find the best replacement for the underlined words: </p>

<p>Lindsey knows that the reason people dislike her is because of her being a Philadelphia Phillies fan.</p>

<p>a. is because of her being a
b. is because she is a
c. is that she is a
d. is her being a
e. is that of her being a</p>

<p>Correct answer's C, but why is D wrong? Is the phrase "her being" simply grammatically incorrect? If one of the choices was "is she being a", would that also be a correct answer?
I'm confused on when "she being" and "her being" can be grammatically correct in a sentence and when they're not. </p>

<p>Also,</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Although best known for being a crooner of old songs, Tony Bennett also paints watercolors, whereby he has enjoyed considerable success. </p></li>
<li><p>Though best known as a jazz vocalist, he also enjoyed gospel music, whereby he told his manager that he wanted to make a recording of his favorite gospel songs. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Barron's writing book says whereby is correctly used in the sentence 1 , but Collegeboard's Blue Book says whereby should be replaced with "as" in sentence 2. Can anyone give a good reason why whereby makes sense in sentence 1 and not 2?</p>

<p>Your first question is in regard to the use of gerunds, and in particular the gerund being.</p>

<p>A use example is:</p>

<p>Being clever is her way of making friends.</p>

<p>The gerund phrase “being clever” functions as a noun.</p>

<p>You can say “Her being clever entertains the class.” Note the use of the possessive adjective “her”. Think of another noun, such as book, to make sure you are using the right form of the possessive – i.e. “her book”.</p>

<p>I can’t think of any case where “she being” is correct.</p>

<p>You ask why the following is wrong:</p>

<p>“Lindsey knows that the reason people dislike her is her being a Philadelphia Phillies fan.”</p>

<p>The reason is that a clause is expected after “is”. As written the clause is incomplete – i.e. missing verb – and awkward.</p>

<p>In my experience, “being” is almost always used incorrectly on the SAT.</p>

<p>Good question “whereby” !!!
“whereby” means through which, through the mentioned act.
The first sentence says that through painting water colors, Tony Bennett has made many successes. “Whereby” here makes sense.
The second sentence’s logic reasoning is that because “he also enjoyed gospel music”, “he told his manager that he wanted to make a recording…”. It’s the cause and effect relationship so “whereby” is not suitable. I think it should be “so”</p>

<p>If you’re actually writing, my advice is to avoid using “whereby” in any circumstances.</p>

<p>I hate to be the first to mention it, but someone needs to tell the OP that the word is spelled “grammar.”</p>

<p>“Whereby” is equivalent to “by which” according to dictionary.com. All you must do is to replace “whereby” by “by which” if you see it on the SAT.</p>

<p>“The reason…is that” is more idiomatic than “The reason is… (possessive+gerund)”</p>

<p>PSVicki is right, whenever I see the word “being”, I always move on to the next choice and eliminate the “being” one.</p>

<p>SAT has a grammar system that is quite different from the system we use everyday
there are more rules and formats</p>

<p>Thanks for your answers, guys! </p>

<p>PSVicki and Aiming, I would assume “being” is incorrect for most writing questions too, but, in some of the official practice tests I’ve taken, I’ve seen quite a few “find the error” questions where “being” was used correctly, either in the beginning in the sentence or near the end. I hope I won’t encounter one in the actual test x-x</p>

<p>Another important thing to note is that the SAT almost always has a sentence to goes like “reason… that”.</p>

<p>Just remember to associate “reason” with “that”</p>

<p>MasterYster is right – the idiom is “reason… that”. Good explanation of idioms on [The</a> Snarky Student’s Guide to Grammar](<a href=“http://snarkygrammarguide.blogspot.com%5DThe”>http://snarkygrammarguide.blogspot.com)</p>