Suler
that would explain my being here dressed like this.Why is "my"? I've been sitting there for last half-hour trying to come up with a story that would explain my being here dressed like this. explain my being here...Why is "my" not "me"?THX!
Jan 27, 2015 9:02 AM
Answers · 7
3
The possessive form "my" is correct here, because "being" is a gerund (–ing form of a verb used as a noun). Technically, "me" is incorrect grammar, although it is commonly used.
January 27, 2015
2
I agree with Randy. 'Being' is a gerund form. A gerund, basically, is when a verb does the job of a noun. Nouns are modified with possessive adjectives: my, your and so on. You can analyse that part of the sentence like this: [1. a story that] [2. would explain] [3. my being here dressed like this] 1.subject 2. verb 3. complement. The main part of the complement (3) is the noun phrase 'my being'. As Meisam points out, you could replace 'my being' with 'my presence', which is more obviously a noun phrase. Could you also say 'me' here? Well, it depends how correct you want to be. That is, in fact, the word which a very large proportion of native speakers would use here. It's not grammatically correct, but it is very common indeed.
January 27, 2015
1
My being here kinda means my presence So if you consider it in that way, you couldn't say: "Me presence" so the same is true on "Me being here" "Being here" describes some thing that belongs to you
January 27, 2015
Interesting question! I learned from the answers. Thank you.
January 28, 2015
Both are NOT correct. My being is the correct form...
January 27, 2015
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