Being +past participle without (to be) verb

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Hasib
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Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:47 am
Status: Learner of English

Being +past participle without (to be) verb

Post by Hasib »

I am having a problem in understanding this sentence:

◆◆I can understand being deceived into thinking it's a joke

Does it mean that the speaker is being deceived into thinking like that or he (the speaker) thinks that someone is being deceived into thinking like that. I mean does it mean:

I can understand I am being deceived into thinking it's a joke.

OR

I can understand someone is being deceived into thinking it's a joke.



Actually, I have read that the continuous(present,past,future) passive voice structure is like this: sub+helping verb+ being+ past participle+preposition+object, but here, the (sub and helping verb) part is missing and I want to know the reason. Please explain it to me.

Here are other examples of that type of structure: (being+past participle without to be verb)

1. A COUPLE YEARS AGO I DECIDED THAT I WAS DONE BEING MISTREATED BY NEGATIVE AND ABUSIVE PEOPLE.

2. Umbrage is a feeling of anger caused by being offended.

3. Umbrage is a feeling of being offended by what someone has said or done.

I want to know when this structure is used and what it means.

#TIA
OccamsRazor
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Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2020 11:25 pm
Status: Teacher of English

Re: Being +past participle without (to be) verb

Post by OccamsRazor »

Think of "being offended" or "being deceived" as noun phrases.

In your first example:
I can understand being deceived into thinking it's a joke
yes, it means
I can understand I am being deceived into thinking it's a joke.

But as a stand-alone sentence without context, it doesn't seem complete. I am expecting more explanation or commentary from the speaker.
OccamsRazor
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Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2020 11:25 pm
Status: Teacher of English

Re: Being +past participle without (to be) verb

Post by OccamsRazor »

Perhaps what you are really asking is "What is a gerund?" or "What is a verbal?"

Verbals are verb forms that are hybrid parts of speech: gerunds (noun-verbs), participles (adjective-verbs), and infinitives (noun-verbs).

Being part verb, verbals can have their own direct objects or predicate adjectives (or verb complements as some people call them).
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