If "To be" is replaced by "Being", does it mean same?

Let’s try this: “Being or NOT Being, that is the question”

Nope, won’t work there.

I want to be a rock star.
I want being a rock star.

Doesn’t work there either. ‘Being’ is the present progressive form of the irregular verb ‘to be’

“Being” describes something that is ongoing. So it seems, really, that the unmodified sentences are actually better grammatically.

Use “being” when you are describing someone showing a quality, and “to be” when describing the quality itself.

“He’s being silly.” He is at this moment acting in a silly fashion.
“He’s going to be a silly person.” He will develop into someone who is, as a personality trait, silly.

The first sentences which use “to be” are static and more formal than the sentences which use “being”, which are informal and present tense. Essentially they mean the same thing, but “to be” is simply used in more formal language. As glenjamin has pointed out, you can’t always substitute one directly for the other, as they are different forms of the same verb.

The word “being” is actually first and foremost, a noun. (I’m a human being).

The word ‘being’ you refer to is actually an extension of the word “be”, so we’re clear.
As in “be-ing”. It is a present participle, verb. However, the phrase “to be” is technically a future tense phrase, sometimes prepositional.

“To Be” something and “Being Something” are not the same, much like “To Go” is not the same as “Going”.

However, these are commonly interchanged and the meanings arise seemingly appropriately in the context, but the tense of the sentence is changed by the mechanics.

The phrase “to be” is more commonly known as a “be verb” and there are other words and phrases similar to it. All of them should be avoided, so it’s appropriate to try and change the wording of content that uses lots of ‘be verbs’. Just try and avoid changing the meaning of the sentence.

However, sometimes the phrase “To be” was incorrect in the first place. Perhaps the tense should have been present tense all along, so changing one instance of “To be” to “Being” would actually be correct. (meaning it shouldn’t have been future tense in the first place).

The generally accepted point is that ‘be verbs’ weaken the writing. The most typical penalty in writing for breaking rules or using bad grammar is a weakening of your text, and thereby , your point.

In any case, you’re not a computer, you can’t just Control-H everything (that’s find and replace for you newbies :) ) . In other words – use your noggin!

How about this rewrite:

ORIGINAL: To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.

REWRITE: Being creative means falling in love with life. If you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it, then you are creative.

That’s the basics, using the “being” instead of “to be”, changing the weak “to be” in love with life to “falling” in love. And then I removed “You can be” (another be verb) creative at the beginning of the next sentence. Then it was just using the “If – then” statement properly to round it out.

The result (while still needing some work) is a stronger sentence with a more deliberate point. Hope that helps.

Well, to respond to one statement from @gambitking:

“Being” is both a gerund (a noun representing the action or ‘beingness’ of a verb, but not ‘expressing’ it) and one of the present tenses.

Being home is nice. (“Being” is a gerund representing the action of ‘being’ at home. “Is” is the verb in this sentence.)

I am being persnickety now. (“Am being” is the verb in this sentence, to tell you what it is that “I” am doing.)

Most verbs have gerund as well as action forms:
Running is a sport, some people think. (Gerund)
He will be running with the bulls in Spain. (A future tense of “to run”. It’s not “the future tense”, but I’m too far removed from my schooling to recall what this is called, precisely. Future tense would be “He will run with the bulls in Spain.”)

So there are some cases where you can use “to be” or “being” interchangeably, if you understand what is meant by each use and the meanings are acceptably close enough for you. But that’s not always the case, as @stratman37 pointed out pretty clearly with a nice example.

I like this rewrite:

To be creative means being in love with life. You are creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.

@gambitking – “to be” is not a future tense.

First of all, there is no future tense in English; only future aspect. This is why “the train leaves in 10 minutes” is correct. A tense is a form of a verb achieved through affixation. English doesn’t work in the way that most classical, prescriptive grammars would have one believe.

Furthermore, I am confused as to why “be” should be avoided. For a start, it is an integral part of the English language. Perhaps style handbooks should be avoided, or at best treated as suspect. One of the principal weaknesses of American writing is, in my opinion, its over-reliance on simple, declarative sentences. I only do it when I’m drunk-writing. That looks gross and lacking in thought. Imagine how it looks when you do it 24/7.

@lessonenglish – In some ways, the gerund and the to + infinitive forms of verbs mean the same thing. However, they are usually different: the use of the infinitive imples a degree of potential, whereas the gerund form implies a more realised state.

The above is particularly (although not universally true) when one verb triggers a noun form of the verb following it:

>> I like cooking. (I do it regularly)

>> I like to cook. (although I don’t do it very often)

As with any of the “rules” of English, they are merely patterns.

@everyone – @lessonenglish didn’t ask for a rewrite, he asked what the difference in meaning between the “gerund” and “to + infinitive” forms of the verb “be” is. Let’s answer the question as simply and as clearly as possible.

Both “being” and “to be” can be used as a verbal noun. They can usually be used interchangeably in that function even though they are not interchangeable in other uses.

@Jeruba is quite right, both words serve as verbal nouns, and both carry a similar meaning. But they aren’t entirely interchangeable. Consider why Shakespeare chose the more cumbersome form in Hamlet,:

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?”

If we make that fist line of Hamlet’s Soliloquy read, “Being, or not being”, it is far more passive. A state of existing or not existing that just happens to us completely outside our own volition. “To be, or not to be.” is massively active. It is clear from the first line that Hamlet is contemplating suicide, not just thinking of waiting for an inevitable end to impose itself.

The acrimonious tone of some of these posts reminds me that few subjects arouse such passion among a certain class of English speakers as grammar. As a member of a corporate style guide team, I have more than once seen the most heated debates go on for an hour or more on the subject of a hyphen. (It was the editors on the team who did all the vehement declaiming; the writers rolled their eyes and drummed their fingers.)

I’ll risk my neck by venturing the opinion that the OP is interested in the practical application of a principle and not deep, subtle, obscure distinctions. Neither is he interested in rewriting Hamlet, although if he were he might consider the wording “Being or nonbeing” or even “Being or nothingness” if he weren’t committed to iambic pentameter.

I am interested in deep, subtle, obscure distinctions, and I respect the ability of some to make them. But I think a pretty basic, down-to-earth response would be of most help to our questioner.