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Thinking About Using -ing Words? |
In the English language, putting two -ing words together
often is not only natural but correct.
Listen to an example:
I’ve been avoiding going to the doctor.
In today’s Everyday Grammar, we will look at examples of
when two or more -ing words appear next to each other.
What's the present participle?
To understand why two -ing words can appear in a row in
English, you must first understand the present
participle.
A present participle is a word that is formed from a
verb and ends in -ing. For example, the present
participle of the verb to avoid is avoiding.
The present participle is used with the verb to be to
form the continuous tenses. For instance, a few
continuous tenses of to avoid include are avoiding, was
avoiding and has or have been avoiding.
But, the present participle can also act as a gerund or
an adjective. Consider the verb to sing. The present
participle is singing.
Listen to an example of singing as a gerund:
Singing is my favorite activity.
As an adjective:
The singing man was happy.
And as part of a continuous verb tense:
The man was singing in the rain.
verb + gerund
One common situation in which two -ing words can appear
next to each other is when the first -ing word is part
of a continuous verb tense and the second -ing word is a
gerund, as in the first example:
I’ve been avoiding going to the doctor.
Here, have been avoiding is the present perfect
continuous form of to avoid. Going is the gerund.
Here’s another example:
I’m considering buying a home in DC.
Here, am considering is the present continuous form of
the verb to consider. Buying is the gerund.
go + gerund
Two -ing words can also appear together in what we call
“go + gerund.” Go + gerund is an example of the verb +
gerund construction.
In English, we add the verb to go to certain
recreational activities. These activities include
fishing, swimming, shopping and skating, plus more than
a dozen more.
Because of this, when go is in the continuous verb
tense, you will see two -ing words together.
Listen:
I’m going shopping in Alexandria next weekend.
In this sentence, am going is the present continuous
form of the verb to go and the gerund is shopping.
Here’s another:
We’re going skating on Friday in the sculpture garden.
In this sentence, are going is the present continuous
form of the verb to go and skating is the gerund.
Note, however, that you will not see two -ing words
together when go is not in the continuous tense with
these activities. For example: “We went skating in the
sculpture garden last Friday” is still part of the go +
gerund structure.
verb + adjective
Another English construction in which two -ing words
commonly appear next to each other is the verb +
adjective structure.
Listen to the example:
The noise is becoming irritating.
In this example, is becoming is the present continuous
form of the verb to become and irritating is an
adjective that describes the noun noise. Here's another:
I’ve been hearing disturbing stories about that place.
In this example, have been hearing is the present
perfect continuous form of the verb to hear and
disturbing is an adjective that describes the noun
stories.
three -ing words
You may be surprised to know that, in English, it’s also
possible to put three -ing words together.
Listen to an example:
We’re considering going fishing near Providence or
Newport.
No one would look at you strangely if you said this
because it sounds natural in English.
In this sentence, are considering is the present
continuous form of the verb to consider. And, going
fishing follows the go + gerund construction.
But, if you wanted to express the same meaning in
another way, you could say, “We’re thinking about going
fishing near Providence or Newport.”
Notice that there are still three -ing words close
together, but the preposition about separates the first
two.
However, many examples of three -ing words together do
not sound natural. Listen to this example from the
website English Stack Exchange:
Some doctors are considering stopping recommending high-carb
diets.
According to the website, this sentence is grammatically
correct. However, it sounds less natural than the
example about fishing.
Now, listen to a sentence with the same meaning.
Some doctors are rethinking recommending high-carb
diets.
It sounds a little better than the original example. But
this next one sounds better:
Some doctors are rethinking their recommendations of
high-carb diets.
These examples sound more natural in English.
Putting three -ing words together is often complicated
and can sound unusual. So, until you’ve mastered
English, you should probably avoid it. However, in many
situations you can feel comfortable using two -ing words
in a row.
I’m Alice Bryant.
Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English.
Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. |
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Words in This Story |
- row
– n. a straight line of
people or things that are next to each other
- gerund
– n. an English noun
formed from a verb by adding -ing
-
recreational – adj.
done for enjoyment
- skating
– n. the activity or
sport of gliding on skates or a skateboard (gerund
of the verb to skate)
- sculpture
garden – n. an
outdoor garden dedicated to the presentation of
sculpture
-
irritating – adj.
causing annoyance, impatience or anger
-
preposition – n.
a word or group of words that is used with a noun,
pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location,
or time, or to introduce an object
- high-carb
– adj. having a high
number of carbohydrates
-
grammatically – adv.
in a way that relates to the rules of grammar
- original
– adj. happening or
existing first or at the beginning
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