Mr. Ipsum asked my opinion on an email he was writing. I saw that it contained the sentence, “I am concerned that this might not be being adhered to.” I said I didn’t think that “be being” was right. He admitted that it sounded a bit awkward, and I think he ended up using something like “I am concerned that this is possibly not being adhered to.” However, he maintained that his original sentence, while awkward-sounding, was still grammatically correct because using a different verb still works:
I am concerned that this might not be being adhered to.
I am concerned that he might not be going in the right direction.
I am concerned that we might not be making a good decision.
Just out of idle curiosity, what do you think? Is the first sentence wrong while the second and third are right?
Suppose he’d written, “I was not sure if my plan WAS being adhered to.”
Or “I was not sure if my plans WERE being adhered to.”
Do those sentences seem both clear and grammatically correct? I’d say so.
So… if the PAST tense of “be” was correct, why wouldn’t the PRESENT tense be equally correct? And if the plural form of Be was okay, why not the singular.
Don’t get me wrong- it DOES sound a bit clunky, and you were right to suggest re-phrasing it. But he’s right too, to insist he wasn’t using incorrect grammar.
It’s passive, presumably to soften an accusation against the recipient of the message. So you could recast as: “I am concerned that you might not be adhering to this.”
(If it’s a third party who is not doing the adhering, substitute their name.)
No, “being” in this case is not a gerund because the word in question isn’t behaving at all like a noun. The phrase suggests that something is not being adhered to right now but this non-adherence is not necessarily a property of the thing. It’s like the difference between “you are a jerk” an “you are being a jerk.” The former is absolute and final, but the latter leaves open the possibility that you could stop being a jerk.
There are definitely clearer ways to express this, but I don’t think it is ungrammatical.
“be” is part of the phrase “might be,” so it’s not ungrammatical. But it’s still poor word choice because of the “be being” repetition. It’s also worded passively, I prefer strong verbs. I would probably change it to this: “I am concerned about the lack of adherence to that ________.” (in the blank you’d put “policy” or “standard” or “procedure,” whatever it is that isn’t sufficiently… adhesive )
)