'far from being, far from
Hello, there is some problems I am being confused in the following sentences:

Economy is one powerful motive for camping, since after the initial outlay upon equipment, or though hiring it, the total expense can be far less than the cost of hotels. but contrary to a popular assumption, it is far from being the only one , or even the greatest.The man who manoeuvres carelessly into his twenty pounds'worth of space at one of Europe's myriad permanent sites may find himself bumping a Bentley

.
Could I delete " being " in this sentence to say " it's far from the only one, or even the greatest" ?

Thanks very much in advance : D

Question

'far from being,   far from
Hello, there is some problems I am being confused in the following sentences:

Economy is one powerful motive for camping, since after the initial outlay upon equipment, or though hiring it, the total expense can be far less than the cost of hotels. but contrary to a popular assumption, it is far from being the only one , or even the greatest.The man who manoeuvres carelessly into his twenty pounds'worth of space at one of Europe's myriad permanent sites may find himself bumping a Bentley

.
 Could I delete " being " in this sentence to say " it's far from the only one, or even the greatest" ?  
 
Thanks very much in advance  : D

Answer

No, in this case you can not omit 'being'. To put your text in a nutschell, it says:
Economy is far from being the only motive for camping. (there are many more reasons for camping)
Try to omit 'being' and sentence doesn't make any sense any more.

In other situations, though, it is possible to use the phrase without word 'being':
We were far from disappointed when they canceled the invitation.

Hope that helps :-)

Answers · 2

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