Roy This is an excellent question, Evelyne, thank you. 'Being' is more frequently used as a verb, but it can also be a noun. Jiaying, shall we start with the noun?
Jiaying 好的。就如同 Roy 说的，“being” 作名词的使用频率要略低于它作动词的使用频率，但因为名词 “being” 的近义词不多，所以确实有必要来学习一下它的用法。“Being” 的第一个名词含义是 “生物，生命”。
Roy Yes, with this meaning it's a countable noun and we often use it with the adjectives 'living' or 'human' before it.
Roy Exactly! This can be quite a formal use of 'being' and you'll often hear it used with the verbs 'come' or 'bring', followed by 'into'. Let's listen to those in examples now.
Examples The European Union came into being in 1993. （欧盟成立于1993年。）
When the new railroad is built, it will bring many new towns into being. （当这条新铁路建成时，将衍生多座新城镇。）
Jiaying 在第一个例句中，搭配 “came into being” 的意思是 “成立了”；在第二个例句中，搭配 “bring something into being” 的意思是 “使存在”。
Roy Yes! We use 'being' with this meaning to say that we feel something strongly. And because we're often talking about our own feelings, it's common to hear this use in the first person with 'my being'.
Roy Yes, it may seem strange but it's how we describe someone's temporary behaviour. These examples might help.
Examples My professor was being very kind to me yesterday – she knew I wasn't feeling well. （我的教授昨天对我很体贴，她知道我身体不舒服。）
David, please stop kicking my seat – you're being very annoying! （大卫，请你别再踢我的座位了，你这样很烦人！）
Jiaying 我们还可以在现在进行时或过去进行时的被动结构中使用现在分词 “being”。相信大家已经知道，被动语态用来强调动作的执行者是未知的或不重要的。被动语态的结构是：主语 + be 动词 + 过去分词。注意，be 动词随时态和人称变化。
Roy So when we use the past continuous or present continuous in the passive, for example, we need to use 'being'. 'Being' will have the verb 'be' before it, and the past participle of the main verb after it. Here are two examples of that.
Examples Two people were being arrested as I walked past the supermarket yesterday. （昨天我经过超市时，有两个人被逮捕了。）
My son takes swimming lessons. He's being taught how to do backstroke at the moment. （我儿子上游泳课。他正在学习如何仰泳。）
