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Are these equivalent in meaning? I think I can also omit "being" and I can not discern any difference between them. If there are any, I appreciate it if you could explain.

1 The process commences with fresh oranges (being) delivered to a factory.
2 The process commences with delivering fresh oranges to a factory.

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  • 2
    Personally, I wouldn't use the second one because it suggests that the people who deliver the oranges are going to continue the process, which presumably isn't the case.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 14:40
  • Do you also use "being" in the first one or can we omit it?
    – alireza
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 14:43
  • 3
    Yes, I would use being - or you could say with the delivery of fresh oranges.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 14:45

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The difference that could be gleaned is that (1) suggests the narrator may have some part in the delivery.

"1 The process commences with fresh oranges (being) delivered to a factory."

The oranges are delivered as a background activity in which the narrator has no part.

"2 The process commences with delivering fresh oranges to a factory."

Rather makes it sound as if the narrator is taking part in the delivery process.

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6
  • The narrator, or the people performing the process? How could the narrator implicated by merely describing a process?
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 16:07
  • That is what narration is. Describing something - particularly a set of actions.
    – PRL75
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 17:58
  • @gotube Is my first example actually the reduced form of "The process commences with fresh oranges which are delivered to a factory." ??
    – alireza
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 19:34
  • @PRL75 Yes, narration is when I describe something, not when I suggest that I myself have some part in it. The narrator is a 3rd party observer describing the scene unless they directly implicate themselves in it, usually by referring to themselves in the first person. This narration doesn't include any first person so I'm wondering why you think the person saying that sentence actually does the delivery.
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 20:09
  • @alireza No, the process begins with the delivery of oranges, not with oranges themselves.
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Oct 29, 2022 at 20:10

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