existentials - Meaning of "there being"

Does anyone else worry about there being too much 'fantasy' in children's fiction?

Please tell what there being means. I would like to have alternative ways to rewrite the above sentence. It would be better if I got some sentences that include there being.

Answer

"there being" is simply the passive form of "there is". "There is" relates your next clause to a direct subject, yourself, where "there being" puts the "blame" on the object doing the action. Here's the difference:

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  "I punched him in the face" _{(active voice)}

  
  

  
  


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  "He was punched in the face" _{(passive voice)}

  
  

  
  

or

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  "There is too much salt in the food" _{(active voice, implies the subject 'I')}

  
  

  
  


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  "I'm worried about there being too much salt in the food" _{(passive voice, implies a global subject, or the subject 'you')}

  
  

  
  
  

Let's look at other ways to say this, with the subjects left in:

"There is too much salt in the food."

1. 
   

   
   

   "I think there is too much salt in the food."

   
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   
   

   "I feel there is too much salt in the food."

   
   

   
   


3. 
   

   
   

   "Emma said there is too much salt in the food."

   
   
   

   
   

"I'm worried about there being too much salt in the food."

1. 
   

   
   

   "I'm tired of there being too much salt in the food"

   
   

   
   



2. 
   

   
   

   "They've complained about there being too much salt in the food."

   
   

   
   

In the first three examples, there is a direct subject (I, he, she, Emma) and food is the direct object of the sentence.

In the last two examples, food is the subject of the sentence. It's the food's fault there is so much salt, the speaker is not involved.

That's why "there being" is so restrictive. There are maybe two sentence types in which you can use it, the examples I just gave, and it often comes off as passive/aggressive or pretentious.It's usually used to deflect a negative statement away from oneself: the speaker does not wish to take responsibility for their statement.

Otherwise, the speaker would say:

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  "There is too much fantasy in fairy tales"

  
  

  
  


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  "Statistically, children are reacting to fantasy in fairy tales more now than ever before"

  
  

  
  
  

Since they'd have to back up either of those claims, it's easier to blame "the ether" for their statement.

"I'm worried about there being....."