Unit 4, page 20‐D - DeiseFreire/English GitHub Wiki

MURPHY, Raymond. English grammar in use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Unit 4, page 20-D.

am/is/are being You can say he’s being ... , you’re being ... etc. to say how somebody is behaving now:

• I can’t understand why he’s being so selfish. He isn’t usually like that. (being selfish = behaving selfishly now).
• ‘The path is icy. Don’t slip.’ ‘Don’t worry. I’m being very careful.’

Compare:

• He never thinks about other people. He’s very selfish. (= he is selfish generally, not only now).
• I don’t like to take risks. I’m a very careful person.

We use am/is/are being to say how a person is behaving (= doing something they can control) now.

It is not usually possible in other situations:

• Sam is ill. (not is being ill).
• Are you tired? (not are you being tired).