Thread: There being...

A phrase from a textbook:
"There being nothing else to do, we went to bed".
Why not "There was..." and what's the difference?

"There being" is just a fancier "bookish" way of saying the same thing as "there was". The sentence has to change a bit, though, in order for it to mean the same thing:

"There was nothing else to do, so we went to bed."

Спасибо!
Три уточняющих вопроса:
1) Нормально ли воспринимается оборот "there being.." в разговорной речи, или люди подумают, что я престарелый профессор?
2) Второй вариант без слова "so" грамматически неверен, а в первом варианте можно (нужно) обойтись без него?
3) А что это здесь за время вообще? Или герундий?.. Я не очень разбираюсь..

I think "there being" is better understood as "since there was", it adds reasoning

There being nothing to do, we went to bed ==
since there was nothing to do, we went to bed ==
There was nothing to do, SO we went to bed

There being a big elephant in our way, we had to take another road to Moscow.

1) You could use it, but you would really have to have the feel for it. You usually use it in the past tense, so it would be while telling a story of what you did.

2) With "there was" you have to use "so"

3) I don't really know the time nomenclature in English

Thanks, kalinka_vinnie.
I was suprised with this "there being" thing, cause I've only heard "there was.." before.

Громозека, слышал ли ты об абсолютных конструкциях? Это как раз оттуда... Consult your grammar book!

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

I think "there being" is better understood as "since there was", it adds reasoning

There being nothing to do, we went to bed ==
since there was nothing to do, we went to bed ==
There was nothing to do, SO we went to bed

He hit it exactly. Nice explanation, vinnie.

Thanks to everyone.
З.Ы. Че за зверь такой - абсолютные конструкции - не знаю, но теперь есть повод узнать.

Громозека, можешь посмотреть вот это вордовский документ: http://kspu.ptz.ru/structur/kafedry/kaf ... urok10.doc
Здесь объясняются виды этих конструкций и их переводы. Надеюсь, это поможет.

Кроме того, совершенно доходчиво написано здесь: http://boostyourenglish.net.ru/Verbalform/Abcons.htm