grammar - Clause for the phrase "Being that ..."


There is this sentence:



There are several parts to this problem, the most important (part) being that many of the learners find it rather boring.



I would like to know if the phrase in bold-faced type is short form of a clause or something.
If yes, what is the original form of the sentence?


To me, it sounds like the original form is "the most important of which is that..."
As in:



The man who lives next door = the man living next door



Does it follow the same rule or is the case different?
And, can we simply use the verb "is" instead and say "the most important is that ..."
If yes, what is the difference between "...being that..." and "...is that..." in the sentence? Is it only a matter of style?



Answer




There are several parts to this problem, the most important being that many of the learners find it rather boring.



This is an absolute construction in which There are several parts to this problem is the main clause serving as anchor. The clause the most important being that many of the learners find it rather boring is a supplement. It is not syntactically integrated into the main clause. The non-finite gerund-participle verb form, being, is necessary to mark this clause as subordinate. If we had a tensed verb, we would just have two distinct sentences:



  • There are several parts to this problem. The most important being is that many of the learners find it rather boring.


Some of the other answers here suggest that this type of construction is ungrammatical. This is clearly not the case. Here are three examples of such constructions from published books:





  1. The Societa Nazionale d'Industrie Meccaniche are proprietors of two establishments at Naples, the most important being that of Pietrasa, which they have hired from the government. (Journal of the Society of Arts - Volume 19 - p. 680)




  2. There are many effects of lactulose and soluble fibers on ammonia metabolism, the most important being that ammonia is metabolized by the colonic bacterial flora to produce acids that reduce the pH of colonic content. (Textbook of vetinary internal medicine, Ettinger et al, p.1634)




  3. As a perspective, it has made certain assumptions, the most important being that the human being is phenomenal, caused, open to scientific measurement, and not an active agent in relation to his or her environment—not self- determining or free.(The Production of Reality: Essays and Readings on Social Interaction, Jodi O'Brien, p.40)





These have been taken from the many hundreds of examples from GoogleBooks available here.


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