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I enjoy to travel/traveling.

This book is bored/boring.

Which form is correct?

A thinking emoji shown on a smartphone.Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

English grammar can get difficult, but learning when to use "-ing" verbs will help you in everyday interactions and during exams.

What is an "-ing" verb?

A woman shrugs her shoulders and looks confused.

The term "ing verb" usually refers to the form of the verb ending in "-ing", which is either a present participle or a gerund.

Both forms are the same but have different functions in a sentence depending on the context.

How do we make it?

Base verb + "-ing" ending

  • look = looking

  • sit = sitting

  • play = playing

Did you know?

To learn when to double the final consonant, follow these rules.

Present Participles

A woman looks up information in a book. She smiles, looks up, and points her finger in the air when she finds it.

Present participles have two main functions:

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1. To form the continuous verb tenses ✔

Examples:

  • Present continuous: She is walking to school.

  • Past continuous: They were reading a book.

  • Future continuous: I will be singing in the contest.

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2. To be used as an adjective (to describe a noun or pronoun) ✔

Examples:

  • The barking dog woke me up.

  • He is a loving and caring father.

  • The movie is boring, and I don't want to watch it.

Quiz

Can you find the present participles in the following sentences?

Did you know?

Verbs, such as enjoy, admit, mind avoid, can't help, consider, dislike, feel like, finish, give up, miss, practice, and suggest are followed by "-ing" verbs.

Like and love, however, can be followed by either "-ing" verbs or "to+ infinitive" forms.

Gerunds

A woman thinks and points her finger in he air.

Gerunds function as nouns and can be used as subjects or objects of sentences.

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Subject — performs the action of the verb

Examples:

Swimming is my favorite hobby.

Smoking is bad for your health.

Writing helps me to clear my ideas.

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Object — receives the action of the verb

Examples:

I like cooking in the evening.

Fred enjoys reading fantasy books.

She considered not going to the party.

Quiz

Can you find the gerunds in the following sentences?

Did you know?

Gerunds sometimes follow prepositions in sentences.

Example: After having my breakfast, I went to school.

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This Byte has been authored by

IM

Iulia Musat

L&D Admin

BA

English

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