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A: A wild dog?

B: I'm not being confusing on purpose. Their bites are nasty.

Why did B use 'being confusing'? What if B said like...

"I'm not confusing"

"I don't confuse"

then how would it be changed in mood or grammar?

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  • Hmm. I agree it's confusing. I can't really explain why we'd almost never use intransitive It confuses. But it's worth noting that we're quite happy to use transitive It confuses many people as an alternative to It is confusing to/for many people.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 12:46

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If you say that someone is confusing, then you are saying that is something about them - that they are always confusing, or tend to be confusing. If someone is being confusing, then it is only what they are doing at that point that is confusing.

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