Level: beginner
We can use the -ing form of a verb:
- as a noun:
I love swimming.
Swimming is very good for your health.
You can get fit by swimming regularly.
- as an adjective:
The main problem today is rising prices.
That programme was really boring.
He saw a woman lying on the floor.
-ing forms as nouns
-ing nouns are nearly always uncount nouns. They can be used:
- as the subject of a verb:
Learning English is not easy.
- as the object of a verb:
We enjoy learning English.
Common verbs followed by an -ing object are:
admit like hate start avoid suggest enjoy dislike begin finish
- as the object of a preposition :
Some people are not interested in learning English.
- -ing form as a noun
-ing forms as adjectives
The -ing adjective can come:
- in front of a noun:
I read an interesting article in the newspaper today.
We saw a really exciting match on Sunday.
- after a link verb like be, look or sound:
Your new book sounds very interesting.
The children can be really annoying.
- after a noun:
Who is that man standing over there?
The boy talking to Angela is her younger brother
- especially after verbs of the senses like see, watch, hear, smell, etc.:
I heard someone playing the piano.
I can smell something burning.
The commonest -ing adjectives are:
amusing boring disappointing |
interesting surprising tiring |
worrying exciting frightening |
shocking terrifying annoying |
- -ing form as an adjective
Patterns with -ing forms
Because an -ing noun or adjective is formed from a verb, it can have any of the patterns which follow a verb. For example:
- it can have an object:
I like playing tennis.
I saw a dog chasing a cat.
- it can be followed by a clause:
I heard someone saying that he saw you.
- -ing form as a noun or adjective 1
- -ing form as a noun or adjective 2
Hello SONIAL03,
I think both forms are possible:
Which you choose is really a question of style. The second may be easier to understand and be less likely to be misunderstood but both are perfectly correct.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ali boroki,
The infinitive is a verb form which is used in a number of ways. You can read about them and see examples on this page and this page.
The gerund is a verb formed with -ing used as a noun in the sentence. You can read more about these on this page and on the page we are on here.
You can also use the search facility to look up 'infinitive' and 'gerund' to find relevant pages. If you have any questions about particular examples then we will be happy to explain, of course.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi amrita,
Yes, 'watching' is a gerund (a noun derived from a verb) and 'soothing' is an adjective. The structure of the sentence is a simple copula: 'X is Y'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello amrita_enakshi,
The words have the form of past participles but are functioning as adjectives in the sentence.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi mehransam05,
The phrase 'game-changing delivery' (it is usually hypenated) has a compound adjective (game-changing) modifying a noun (delivery).
English is a very flexible language and a word fulfil many different roles in the sentence. To identify which role an ing-form has you need to look at the sentence in which it is used. This is why we provide the examples on this page. If the ing-form is the subject or object in the sentence then it is acting as a noun. If it describes a noun then it is acting as an adjective.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Lexeus,
The two forms you ask about function as nouns, and yes, they are gerunds, i.e. words formed from verbs that are used as nouns.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi mehransam05,
1a is an acceptable collocation (word combination) in standard British English, but 1b is not. A moving vehicle is a vehicle that is moving at the time you're talking about.
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with any of the other word combinations. If I had some idea what they meant, then I could recommend one over the other, but without some context I can't really say. Sorry.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Anshu,
The phrase 'lying on the floor' here is adjectival as it describes the noun phrase 'a woman'. You can think of it as a reduced relative clause:
The -ing form is formed from a verb but in this sentence it has an adjectival function.
Note that this use of the -ing form comes after the noun, not before. Thus:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi ibrahemyacoup,
I would say that the first sentence is correct. The phrase 'capital spending' has a clear definition in economics:
http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=capital-expenditure%2Fspending
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team