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So I heard this sentence of someone who was clearly a native speaker

Lets talk about the disadvantages, the first one being....

and he chose it instead of

Lets talk about the disadvantages, the first one is...."

which is what I would have gone with in such a sentence. So of course, I want to know why.

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  • 2
    Both sentences have the same meaning, it's stylistic.
    – Peter
    Nov 26, 2016 at 19:19
  • If you could hear punctuation, and the speaker used a colon instead of a comma, it would be exactly what you'd expect.
    – John Feltz
    Nov 27, 2016 at 0:43
  • @Chandthunder Could you tell us what words come after 'being' and 'is' in both of those sentences ? It would be easier to understand for us.
    – yubraj
    Nov 27, 2016 at 4:11
  • Could you provide complete sentences ?
    – yubraj
    Nov 29, 2016 at 6:31

1 Answer 1

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Let's talk about the disadvantages, the first one is the ketchup covering the cucumbers.

Believe it or not, this is incorrect. It's a run-on sentence. Instead of the comma to connect two independent clauses, there should be either a semicolon or a period, separating it into two sentences. Both of these are clunky and awkward. But there's a smoother way to do it.'

Let's talk about the disadvantages, the first one being the ketchup covering the cucumbers.

Not only is this grammatically correct (being the ketchup... is a participial phrase modifying one, an appositive), it's smooth and easy to say.

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