The ending -ing is used in the gerund in English; however, unlike in Portuguese, this nominal form is used for several other functions besides demonstrating an action that is happening. Therefore, this is a subject that causes many doubts both among beginners and those who are already at an advanced level of the language.
Today, CCAA will tell you all about the rules of this part of English grammar and how to use the gerund in everyday sentences. Check it out!
After all, what is a gerund?
Gerund is one of the nominal forms of the verb; therefore, it is not classified in any mood or verb tense. In Portuguese grammar, it is characterized by the idea of prolonged or developing actions. In English, this definition also exists, however the gerund can represent the verb tense Present Participle or have several other functions in a sentence, as a noun, subject or complement.
Whenever we create a sentence with a gerund in English, we add “-ing” to represent this idea. Here’s how some verbs look in this case:
- Sleep – sleeping;
- Leave – leaveing;
- Win – winning;
- Read – reading;
- Walk – walking;
- Work – working;
- Drive – driveing;
- Love – loving;
- Think – thinking;
- Observe – observeing.
Present Participle: what does it represent?
CCAA Present Participle, also known as “-ing participate“, and used to form the verb tenses known as “Continuous”. They are: Present Continuous, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Continuous and Future Continuous. In these cases, the verb to be (in the verbal tense) plays the role of an auxiliary verb, followed by the main verb with the ending -ing. The construction of this structure is as follows:
Verb to be + main verb + ing
Verbs in this mode are used to convey a sense of movement and continuity. Check out some examples:
- I was driveing. – I was driving;
- I will be traveling. – I will be traveling;
- We are danceing. – We are dancing;
Rules for adding -ing to verbs
Adding the ending –ing will not always be simple. Some verbs need to follow certain spelling rules to add the suffix to verbs. They are:
- Verbs ending with the letter “e”: in this case the letter is replaced by the ending:
- Okayand – oking;
- Giveand – giveing;
- Makand – making;
- Verbs that have the sequence “consonant-vowel-consonant”, known as “CVC”: the last consonant must be doubled:
- Gand – getting;
- Stop – stopping;
- Run – running;
- Verbs ending in -ie: these letters should be replaced by the letter “y” and -ing should be added:
- Lie – lying;
- Die – dying;
When to use “ing” in English?
Now see when the gerund should be used in the English language:
Along with verbs
In some English sentences, we use two verbs in sequence. Some of them require the following verb to end in -ing. The list is long, and memorizing them may not be the best learning strategy; with time and involvement with the language, you will learn them naturally.
Some of the most common are: consider, continue, keep, suggest, miss, love, resist, recommend, mention, enjoy, try, risk, understand, practice and quit. See some examples:
- I love writing. – I love writing;
- I miss danceing every week. – I miss dancing every week;
- I enjoy reading. – I like reading.
After prepositions
In verbs preceded by a preposition, the use of -ing is mandatory. Some examples of prepositions are: after, while, without and at. See what the construction looks like in a sentence:
- They're really good at playing video games. – They are really good at playing video game;
- She fell asleep while wcatching TV. – She fell asleep while watching TV.
In everyday expressions
After some expressions of everyday life, such as “it's worth”, “can't help”, “look forward to”, “what about”, “it's no use”, “in spite of”, “to be excited about” and “how about”, It is a rule to use the gerund in English. See some examples:
- It's worth going there. – It’s worth going there;
- I can't help thinking about you. – I can't stop thinking about you;
- It's no use insisting, I won't go there. – There’s no point in insisting, I’m not going there.
Representing activities
Some activities are represented with the verb “to go” followed by the gerund. Check out some examples:
- We went swimminging last weekend. – We went swimming last weekend;
- I don't want to go bowling. – I don't want to go bowling;
- When did you last go hikeing? – When was the last time you went for a walk?
In the construction of nouns
To change a verb into a noun:
- to help/helping – help/helps;
- to learn/learning – learn/learning;
- to book/booking – reserve/booking;
- to read/reading – read/reading.
Become the subject of the sentence
When the verb is the subject of the sentence:
- Flying makes me nervous. – Flying makes me nervous;
- Learning English is not as hard as you think. – Learning English is not as difficult as you think.
Note that in Portuguese grammar, “voar” and “aprender” can be nouns or verbs depending on the sentence. In English, when if the verb is used as a noun, it must, as a rule, receive the ending -ing.
Today, CCAA brought the main uses of the gerund in English, a complicated subject even for those who already master the language. By the way, do you know what your English level? See how to recognize this post. Here in blog, You will find several tips to help you understand the English language in a simpler way. Keep following us!
