ING form - Adjective or noun (part 2)

written by Bill Teach

I am annoyed because this is really annoying!

Picking up where we left off.

There is the issue of verb patterns. Some verbs are followed by gerunds and others by infinitives.

• I need to cook. (infinitive)
• I stopped smoking. (gerund)

Sometimes a verb can be followed by either one without change in meaning.  

• I hate to cook.
• I hate cooking.

Though there may be a difference in meaning between American and British English.

• American English:    I like cooking = I like to cook.
• British English:         I like cooking (enjoy)
                                 I like to cook at night when I have all the time for myself (preference)

There are also verbs that can be used in both gerund and infinitive forms with difference in meaning.

• I remembered to close the window before I left. (remember to perform a task)
• I remember leaving late and closing the windows. (your memory of the past)  

After prepositions Gerund is also used.

• By doing this…                  
• I thought about buying…            

Remember that ‘to’ can be a preposition or a particle of the infinitive form.

• I need to buy something.
• He admitted to buying drugs. (prepositional verb: admit to something)

  

ING as Adjectives: Present Participle

Adjectives can also derive from verbs. It can take either Past Participle form: bored, excited, drunk, forgiven, etc or Present Participle form: Exciting, boring, interesting, etc.

Sometimes both versions, Present participle and past participle, are possible:

• Excited – Exciting
• Bored – Boring
• Interested – Interesting

In these cases, the ‘ED’ (Past participle) refers to the way a person feels and the ‘ING’ to the way things are.

• I am annoyed about not having money. (feeling)
• Not having money is annoying. (fact)

Note.: the adjective word ‘drunk’ is only used as post modifier. He is drunk. To use as an attributive adjective use the word drunken: A drunken man…

The present participle is also used as part of the continuous/progressive verb tenses.

• I am writing this posting.