being vs. was

[duc]

I have just read a passage about languages.There is one sentence that makes me confused.Here it is ''...until well into the 20th century , Welsh was all but illegal ,its use being forbidden in schools, the courts and at many places of work...''

I don't understand why they used ''being'' instead of ''was'' .Is this the special usage of ''being''?
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Don't see your shade think you are great

[Alan]

Hi Duc,

You could obviously use 'was'on its own but the use of 'being' suggests that this practice continued to be forbidden over this period of time. The construction in effect is a contracted form of 'was being'.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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