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Here are two sentences:

My having been to South-Korea helped me learn the languages when I took the classes.

Being accepted to Harvard university was the greatest day of my life.

Is it common or natural way to write such 'having+past participle' and being+past participle construction in formal writing? Or should I use the other alternatives for these? Are these construction encouraged in writing? And What about in spoken English? Thanks.

source http://www.myenglishteacher.net/gerunds.html

yubraj
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  • Proofreading isn't encouraged here. You might want to change your question. That thing that you're looking for is called gerund replacing a noun acting like one and it's different from present participle phrases which replace a clause and acting like one. – Yuri Oct 09 '16 at 08:09
  • @Yuri yeah! That's exactly what i'm looking for. I don't know how it looks like proof-reading. – yubraj Oct 09 '16 at 08:53
  • This gives you a basic understanding of the difference and this one takes you one step more. – Yuri Oct 09 '16 at 09:35
  • @Yuri Thanks for links, found helpfull. . .but it's not enough for this question! – yubraj Oct 09 '16 at 23:32
  • Spending time in South-Korea helped me learn the languages when I took the classes. 2. The day I was accepted to Harvard University was the greatest day of my life. (It's a proofreading question because there is no specific question on usage or meaning. There are hundreds of ways to rewrite these two sentences.
    • – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 10 '16 at 01:45
  • @P.E Dent - This is the link http://www.myenglishteacher.net/gerunds.html – yubraj Oct 10 '16 at 01:57
  • The two examples are you cite in your question are meant to illustrate the gerund in its perfect form ("Having been to...") and in the passive voice ("Being accepted...") They have nothing to do with replacing the gerunds, which is what your question asks about. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 10 '16 at 02:04
  • @P.E Dent What i want is to write those sentences in the simple form by removing perfect participle and gerund forms. Because these forms of sentences look complicated for me. That's all – yubraj Oct 10 '16 at 02:10
  • @P.E Dent I'm also asking 'how to write these sentences by removing. . . .without changing their meanings, so, meaning shouldn't be changed after they are Re writen. – yubraj Oct 10 '16 at 02:13
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    There are literally hundreds of ways to write these sentences without the gerunds and without changing their meaning. For examples, see my comment above. The gerund is very important and useful in English, and the sentences are not very complicated. If you study and understand the examples in the lesson you linked to, you will be able to eliminate the gerunds yourself! – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 10 '16 at 02:16
  • For completeness, I see that my previous comment didn't eliminate the gerund in your first example; one of the many ways to this example with that objective in mind is: I visited South-Korea, and that helped me learn the languages when I took the classes. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 10 '16 at 03:55
  • @P.E Dent The answer of this question http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/106047/past-participle-vs-beingpast-participle/106123#106123 will also answer this question, two questions one answer – yubraj Oct 10 '16 at 04:12
  • You ask here: "How to re-write this sentence without changing its meaning by removing the 'being+past participle' from this sentence?" The answer is that there are hundreds of ways to do that. Your other question is specifically about the word being, and there are two answers there, one of which explains how to rewrite the sentences, and one of which runs counter to the doctrine that "Be (and by extension, "being") doesn't mean anything most of the time" (which, judging by the upvotes, is a popular belief.) – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 10 '16 at 04:24
  • yes!!! of course.But what I mean to say is previous question is most important for me compared to this one – yubraj Oct 10 '16 at 04:39
  • @P.E Dent I've changed my question – yubraj Oct 10 '16 at 15:20
  • In that link you posted, it has a bit about gerunds in the passive, the same exact construction in your earlier question There is also a passive form of gerunds. The passive form of gerunds is formed by using being + past participle.. So, I was partly right, the voice is passive. Unless the website is wrong, which is always a possibility. – Mari-Lou A Oct 10 '16 at 17:41
  • @Mari-LouA You were right indeed. The only thing you had wrong is that a sentence doesn't have voice - a gerund does, or a clause, but not a sentence. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 11 '16 at 21:17