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 there,
I go swimming everyday.
Is swimming here is a gerund or a participle?
Thanks in advance for your explanation.
Hello BellaDunst,
This is a more complicated question than you might think, and you could argue either way. You can read such a discussion here:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/124492/is-swimming-a-gerund-in-i-went-swimming
In modern English grammar we generally don't distinguish between gerunds and infinitives and see them as terms not really appropriate to English. Instead, we use a term like -ing form which covers all uses (this is referred to in the discussion I linked to). So my answer is that this is the -ing form :)
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello
I would very appreciate if you explain the next sentence:
I do the cooking.
As I know, the verb cooking in this sentence as a noun. In some cases it is possible. Could you , please provide more explanation in what situations the verb will become a noun and , particularly with DO?
Thank you.
Hi mikrobik,
"Do" in this sentence is a delexical verb (that's a technical term). We have a page all about this topic - please see this page (linked) for more about delexical verbs. I hope you find it useful.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hi teachers,
I recently met a sentence ,it says like this:
It shows the complete process of the leading actors finding out possible criminals.
I can't understand the phrase after "of" , is that sentence correct?
can we use structure : prepositions+nouns+verb ing ?
In the sentence above ,it seems "the leading actors" is not an object of the
preposition 'of"
Could you please give me a reply ?
Thanks,
Shirley
Hi Shirley,
I'm not sure where this is from, but this sentence sounds a bit unnatural to me, so I'm not sure I'd look to it as a model. Having said that, the structure you ask about is correct and it is correctly used in this case.
'of' is the head of a prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase could be short (e.g. 'the complete process of cellular development') or, as in this case, more complex. The complex phrase here is subject noun phrase + verb-'ing' + object noun phrase ('the leading actors finding possible criminals'). Another example of a similarly structured phrase is 'of how the protagonist successfully navigates a complex and difficult situation'.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hey there!
I read here such an example 'I love watching my son play football'.
Could you explain me, please, why don't we use in this sentence 'plays' instead of 'play'?
Thanks in advance.
Hello khomychvitaliia,
The pattern here is watch (see, hear, observe etc) someone do something, where 'do' is not a present simple form but is rather the base form (infinitive without 'to'). You can see this is you use the verb 'be':
You can read more about various verb patterns here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/clause-structure-and-verb-patterns
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Peter,
Thanks a lot for your response and reference attached below.
Kind regards,
Vitaliia Khomych
Hello Sir.Relating to the same issue ,I saw in adverts: If you are looking for a free course all you need to do is sign up in our website and enroll for the course.
Shouldn't it be like: all you need to do is signing up in our website ...
Thank you already.
Hello Sajatadib,
What you suggest makes sense, but I'm afraid what people actually say is what the adverts say. In other words, when a verb comes after 'All you need to do is', it goes in the base form.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir, in the news I heard : My priority is making sure we deliver the economic stability that our country needs.
Could you please help me understand the difference between the following?
My priority is to make sure ...
My priority is make sure ...
My priority is making sure ...
Hi Sajatadib,
Good question. Here are some comments:
I hope that helps to understand it.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir ,
I have a question and i’m sorry it’s out of this topic it’s about grammar itself .
My question is do i need really learning English grammar so deeply like where is the place of object and clause in sentence to speak and read English fluently please answer my question .
Hi g-ssan,
Understanding this aspect of grammar will help you to understand the meaning of what you read better. It will also help you to speak in grammatically standard ways and communicate more clearly. Also, some books, websites and other learning materials will use these ideas when they explain grammar structures. So, if you want to extend your learning, I would definitely recommend trying to learn at least some basic ideas.
However, it's hard for me to answer this question without knowing why you are learning English. If you are learning because you want to pass a difficult exam, for example, then it's probably useful to learn, because accurate understanding/speaking is important in exams. But if you do not have any particular target, or if you feel you already communicate and understand well enough, then it might not be necessary - or at least, it may not be a high priority.
So I guess an important question is: how important is grammatical accuracy for you, in the situations where you use (or want to use) English?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Teachers
my teacher wrote this sentence "I can't afford buying this car ".
is it correct to use a gerund after the verb afford?
Hi Ahmed Hassan,
I'm sorry to disagree with your teacher but I would use "to" + infinitive after "afford" (e.g. I can't afford to buy this car).
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello The LearnEnglish Team,
We're all taught that the "-ing" form of a verb can function as a noun (in this case, it is a gerund).
But sometimes, I don't know whether I should choose a gerund or a noun. For example, in this question:
> "Sign language is a visual means of ____ using gestures, facial expression and body language. (communicate)"
My teacher told me that the blank should be "communication", but when I goolged the whole sentence, I saw the word "communicating" was used.
Grammatically speaking, I think both "communication" and "communicating" can be used here. But are there any nuances between "communicating" and "communication"?
And so, when it comes down to choosing between a noun and a gerund, is there a good rule of thumb to tell us which one we should pick?
Thank you,
Hieu Nguyen.
Hello HieuNT,
In general, the -ing form (gerund) tends to refer to the activity (speaking, communicating) while the noun refers to the subject or concept (speech, communication). Often both forms are possible, as in your example, and sometimes only one form exists (writing, reading etc).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Mr. Peter M.,
Thank you for your answer. So, I understand that the choice of words (a gerund or a noun) will depend on what writers want to emphasise (the action or the subject), right?
In my example, the meaning of the sentence is literally the same for a non-native speaker like me, regardless of whether "communicating" or "communication" is used. Does it sounds the same for you as a native speaker?
Hieu Nguyen
Hi again Hieu,
Yes, in the context you provided there is no difference. If you were talking about a subject of study, however, you would need to use the noun ('communication').
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Great! I get it now.
Thank you for your explanation, Mr. Peter.
''Fearful of how the security forces might react, the local police balked at registering an FIR.''
Has 'being' been omitted before the 'Fearful' in the above sentence? Or this doesn't require 'being'. What grammar rule does the first clause (Fearful of how the security...) follow, incase 'being' is not omitted? Please explain. Thanks and regards.
PS: I really appreciate the tremendous job you all do on this forum, replying and resolving almost every query by providing satisfactory answer.
Hello Wrakshamara,
'Fearful' is an adjective so I think there are two ways to see a construction like this.
1. The sentence is an example of adjective fronting similar to this: 'Golden and bright, the sun rose over the horizon.'
2. There is a participle clause headed by an adjective ('fearful') with the participle 'being' omitted, as you suggest.
To choose which of these is correct I think we need to look at how the phrase (clause) functions in the sentence. If it is simply descriptive then (1) is the correct explanation. If, on the other hand, it is explaining the cause of the main clause's action then (2) is correct. In my view the latter explanation is the right one: 'Fearful of...' explains why the police baulk and (2) is the explanation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
''The house of cards is unraveling, faster than the time it took to put it all together.''
What grammar rule does the latter clause follow? What do we call it? Is it fine to use it in formal writing? Can that be put otherwise?
Hello Wrakshamara,
In your sentence 'faster than the time it took to put it all together' functions as an adverbial.
In terms of sentence structure, 'faster' is an adverb. It describes the verb phrase 'is unraveling'. It is followed by 'than' which in this example is a conjunction introducing the second item of the comparison.
The sentence is grammatically and stylistically fine in both formal and non-formal speech and writing, though I don't think the comma is required.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
1.Simply put, John does not want Harris transferred.
2. Simply put, John does not want Harris to be transferred.
Which sentence is grammatically correct and why?
Hello Wrakshamara,
Both of these are correct. 2 is the full form and in 1 'to be' has been left but is understood.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks, Sir. Can we do this only with verb 'want' or can it be done with other verbs also?
Hello again Wrakshamara,
There probably are a few other verbs that can be used in the same way, but I'm afraid I can't think of any off the top of my head.
A similar and very useful construction is 'have (or 'get') something done', which we use to speak about actions that we arrange for other people to do. For example, I can say 'I'm going to have my hair cut' or 'She's having her house painted' or 'We're getting our bicycles repaired'. In all of these cases, the subject is not the person cutting, painting or repairing, but they have arranged for other people to do these activities.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello teachers
can we use the noun "growth" instead of "growing up" in this sentence "This book is about growing up in a village" and the gerund "selling" instead of "sale" in this sentence "This book is for sale"? Thanks in advance.
Hello Ahmad Hassan,
No, I'm afraid neither of those alternative words is correct. I'd suggest looking up all of these words in the dictionary to see how they have different uses and connotations, but in general 'growing up' refers more to the development of a person from a psychological perspective than does 'growth', which tends to focus more on the biological organism.
In general, 'for sale' means it is available to buy; 'for selling' describes the purpose of the book.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Mr.Kirk
What about the infinitives that have the same form as nouns, such as sleep, design ... etc
may I know what I can fill the blanks with?
1-" --------is good for your health." (sleep or sleeping)
2-" ------- well is good for health." (sleep or sleeping)
3-" He woke up after 3 hours of ------- ." (sleep or sleeping)
4-" He woke up after 3 hours of ------- in his bed. " (sleep or sleeping)
5-" She is good at ------- ." (design or designing)
6-" She is good at ------- dresses. " (design or designing)
thanks in advance
Hello Ahmed Hassan,
In these sentences, 'sleep' and 'design' are not infinitives -- they are nouns. Most bare infinitive forms are not also noun forms, but these two are an exception to that general rule.
You could use these noun forms correctly in sentences 1, 3, and 5. The '-ing' forms work best in the other three sentences.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Risa warysha,
I know you already saw Peter's answer to this question on another page, but I'm adding a link to his response here in case another user has the same question.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nevi,
The possessive adjective is my rather than mine.
It's possible to use either form here but the gerund is far more common. I think the infinitive is more often used in a conceptual sense, to describe the idea of something rather than the activity itself.
I wrote a little about this in an answer to another user:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/video-series/word-on-the-street/york/york-scene-2-language-focus#comment-171197
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Nevı,
Actually, it's fine to simply say I like eating (pizza). 'Eating' means 'consuming food', so food is already part of its meaning.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Nevi,
Many modern grammarians of English see this distinction (gerund vs present participle) as inappropriate for English and so prefer to simply use the term '-ing form' and identify different uses of a single form rather than trying to identify two distinct forms. Thus, I would simply say that 'after' is followed by an ing-form.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Nevi,
Yes, in these kinds of sentences the performer of the action described in the participle clause is the same as the subject of the verb in the main clause. The time reference is also the same. For example:
You can read more about this on this page:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/participle-clauses
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Parikenan,
No, that's not correct. It's clear from the sentence that the speaker (and listener) are not familiar with whatever difference there may be as the if-clause tells us that it is not even certain that there is a difference. Therefore 'the' is not appropriate.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Parikenan,
I'm afraid neither of those phrases is correct. If you mean 'company operations' and 'operations of the company', in general those mean the same thing.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team