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When gales tear at the mountain peaks, it's better to be a horse in Sunnfjord than an emperor in Russia.”

Should I use the being form there instead of to be? Why or why not? Are both ok, or is one wrong? How can you know?

tchrist
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demitrir
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  • Welcome to EL&U. Unfortunately, our format is not well-suited to this kind of question, and we are neither a writers workshop nor a proofreading service. If you can explain why you do or do not think being is appropriate based on references or observations of grammar, we may be able to assist, as we try to answer questions about general principles, not specific texts. Please take the site [tour] and review the [help] for additional guidance. – choster Nov 08 '16 at 19:10
  • Both are grammatical, but Gimli would use 'better to be ...' while Baldric would use 'better being ...'. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 08 '16 at 19:19
  • @Edwin Ashworth: Hey, give the guy a break. Tell 'im who or what are Gimli and Baldric. (My tone is comprised of a heaping helping of jocularity with only a skosh of sarcasm!) Good naturedly, I remain sincerely yours, Don – rhetorician Nov 08 '16 at 19:30
  • Tolkien authored Gimli. Baldric played second fiddle to Mr Bean. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 08 '16 at 19:32

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I vote for being, not because I'm aware of a particular rule which governs which is correct (i.e., "better to be" or "better being"), but because the verb in the first part of the sentence seems to be more compatible with being and not to be. Being might also sound more--how shall I say it?--poetic, though I could be wrong. (Yeah, it's been known to happen--once, back in 1959, for example.)

Here is a slightly different wording of your sentence which illustrates what I'm driving at:

When gales tear at the mountain peaks, 'tis better being a horse in Sunnfjord than an emperor in Russia.

rhetorician
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  • Milton wrote: Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. – tchrist Nov 08 '16 at 19:42
  • Many thanks for the help! Despite my somewhat rushed question (and the jumbled state of my English), you gave me just the help I needed. I'm grateful for the explanations! – demitrir Nov 08 '16 at 20:12
  • @tchrist: Glad you said of Milton that he "wrote" ( not "said"). The character in Paradise Lost who said those words was none other than the Prince of Darkness (aka Satan, the devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub). As "Paladin" wrote recently at Yahoo Answers: ". . . [Satan] is saying that it is better to reign in hell, however miserable it is, than [to] serve (i.e., [to] be a subordinate) in heaven. Of course, Satan only says this for show. In another portion of the poem, he admits that God's yoke was not really all that heavy and . . . that . . . his own pride . . . was his undoing." – rhetorician Nov 09 '16 at 00:32