Words ending in -ing are constantly found not only in English, but also in Russian: diving, training, marketing and dozens of other borrowings, which are increasing every year. What is it? What words are attached to? In what cases is it used?

In this article I will talk about the use of this ending and the diverse life of -ing words in English.

Rules for adding the ending -ing in English

In English, you can often notice that a mysterious -ing appears at the end of a word. It can be part of various constructions, but they all have one thing in common: the ending -ing is attached only to words denoting action (run, jump, go, etc.).

In most cases, we just add -ing to the end of the word.

Play (play) + ing = playing.
Talk (talk) + ing = talking.

But there are a couple of exceptions to the rule.

1. If suddenly our action ends with -e, then -ing "eats" this -e.

Bite (bite) + ing = biting.

Hide (hide) + ing = hiding.

2. There are two -ie words where the next change occurs.

Lie (lie or lie) + ing = lying.

Die (to die) + ing = dying.

When does this happen, and most importantly, why? There are three main cases when we need -ing. Let's consider them in order.

3 uses of the -ing ending in English

So, we use this ending in the following cases:

1) -ing as part of continuous tenses

Among the English tenses there is a whole group of those that have the word Continuous (continued) in their name. They are called "continued" because they deal with a process, that is, long enough actions.

These are just the times that are formed with the help of be (to be) in different forms and actions on -ing.

Let's look at the most commonly used ones.

• Present Continuous(present continious).

Means an action that is happening right now, at the moment of speaking. To form it, use am/is/are + ___ing.

I am watching TV.
I look television.

Are you listening to me?
You me listening?

I told you in detail about Present Continuous.

• Past Continuous(past continuous).

It means a long action that happened at a certain moment in the past. That is, we always specify when exactly: last night, at 10 am on Saturday, and so on. For this time, we need was/were + ___ing.

I was sleeping yesterday at 10 p.m.
I slept yesterday at 10 pm.

Today at breakfast we were talking about our upcoming trip.
Today at breakfast we spoke about our upcoming trip.

It is also used when we want to show that two actions in the past happened at the same time.

We were discussing John when he suddenly entered the room.
We discussed John when he suddenly entered the room.

I found this photo when I was sorting out my grandfather's papers.
I found this photo when took apart grandfather's papers.

While Tom was trying to sleep, his neighbors were listening to dance music.
Bye Tom tried to sleep, his neighbors listened to dance music.

I was having a shower when you were calling me. (That's why I didn't hear the call.)
I accepted shower, when you called to me. (That's why I didn't hear the call.)

• Future Continuous(future continued).

Denotes a long action that will take place at a certain point in the future. Just like with the past continuous, here you definitely need to specify the time: on Friday at 8, tomorrow at the same time, etc. We build it with will be + ___ing.

Tomorrow at 9 we'll be dancing in a club!
Tomorrow at 9 we will be dancing in the club!

I will be having lunch with Prime Minister at this time on Friday.
I will be having lunch with the Prime Minister at this time on Friday.

These are not all times of the Continuous group, but only the most common ones. They should be enough to give you an idea of ​​how -ing works in their composition.

2) -ing to form participles

What is a sacrament? Take, for example, the action "sleep". It can be changed in such a way that a practically sign will turn out: what? - sleeping. These are the words formed from actions, but answering the questions “What? Which? Which? What kind?" and there are sacraments.

In English, such things are formed with -ing. Please note that in Russian you can say "reading" (in this moment), or you can - “read” (in the past). In English there is no such difference, you will understand the time from the whole sentence.

Also, the -ing "form is used after actions that denote perception with the help of the senses: see (see), hear (hear), feel (feel), smell (smell).

In English, shortened constructions can be made with these verbs, allowing you to shorten the sentence. Compare:

BUT) Fullphrase

She saw that a strange man was climbing into neighbors' window.
She saw that an unfamiliar man was climbing into the window of the neighbors.

B) Abbreviateddesign

She saw a strange man climbing into neighbors' window.
Literally: she saw an unfamiliar man climbing into the neighbors window.

I saw him entering the building.
I saw, How is he comes in into the building. (literally: I saw his coming into the building.)

I heard my neighbor singing.
I heard like my neighbor sang. (literally: I heard your neighbor singing.)

In Russian there are words like “reading, knowing, reasoning” - that is, an action that takes place against the background of some other action: while reading a book, he marked important places with a pencil; aware of the situation on the roads, she drove carefully.

In English, such actions, again, are transmitted using -ing.

Three young people walking by laughing and shouting.
Three young people passed by laughing and screaming.

Reading my grandfather's diary I wondered what kind of man he was.
Reading grandfather's diary I wondered what kind of person he was.

3) -ing when forming a gerund

We come to the worst - gerund. What is it? Essentially, this is when we use -ing to turn an action into an item: sing+ing = singing, watch+ing = (watching), etc.

Fashionable foreign words that came into the Russian language like diving (dive (dive) + ing) and coaching (coach (train) + ing) are formed just like that.

So, when is this gerund used?

• The main character in the sentence

The gerund can be the protagonist of a sentence! Sometimes in Russian we want to speak about some action. For example: smoking is harmful, eating vegetables is healthy, it was difficult to start a car in such a frost.

In English, all this can be said with the help of -ing "s.

Calling people in the middle of the night is impolite.
call people in the middle of the night are impolite. (Literally: " naming to people in the middle of the night is impolite.)

Convincing him to believe us was hard.
To convince It was hard for us to believe him. (Literally: " belief It was difficult for us to believe him.)

• Use after prepositions

The ing form is also required after small words like about, without, for, at, with, and so on.

What about going to the cinema together?
What about go to the movies together? (literally: what about « walking to the cinema together?)

He said this without thinking.
He said it not thinking. (literally: he said it without « thinking»)

Some words have their own little word that you just need to remember: good at (good at some activity), forgive for (forgive for something), etc.

He is very good at running.
He is very Good succeed run. (Literally: he is very good in « running around»)

She forgave him for coming late.
She forgave him for being late. (literally: she forgave his per « arrival late")

• Used after specific words

Finally, there are certain words (usually denoting action) that simply require -ing after them. There is no logic here, they need to be memorized when you learn the word itself. The list of such words, by the way, includes fairly common actions: enjoy ([ɪn "dʒɔɪ] / [inzh`oy] - enjoy) and suggest (/ [saj`est] - offer someone an idea to do something).

Sarah enjoys meeting new people.
Sarah enjoys meeting new people. (Literally: enjoys « meeting»)

Frank suggested having a break.
Frank proposed arrange break. (Literally: proposed « arrangement» break)

That's all. We have covered all the uses of the -ing form in English. Now let's put what we've learned into practice.

Reinforcement task

Put the verbs in brackets in the correct form. Leave your answers in the comments.

1. He (ask) for (take) my pen.
2. (Smoke) is bad for your health.
3. I was (work) when you were (have) a rest.
4. We (sit) in the kitchen (discuss) the news.
5. I have been (study) English for many years.
6. He (suggest) (discuss) the problem together.
7. I (hear) John (talk) to our boss.
8. This (smile) girl on the photo is my sister.

We continue our conversation about endings in English. Everything you wanted to know about ending is on the agenda today. - ing.

The ending - ing- a very important morpheme in the word formation of the English language. For those who study English, this ending is well known. Let's take a closer look at the ending - ing in English, how it helps to form new words, how it behaves in English grammar, and much more. Those who have already got their hands on English will simply repeat the rules again. For beginners, it will be interesting and useful to learn something new.

It is worth recalling, friends, that this ending is involved in the formation of long tenses of English verbs, that is, Continuous.

• Present continuous: She is water ing the flowers now — She iswatersflowersnow.
• Jim was drink ing coffee at 7 o'clock yesterday — Jimyesterdayinsevenhoursdrankcoffee.
• Future Continuous: They will be play ing tennis from 4 till 6 tomorrow — They arewillplayintennistomorrowWith4 to 6.
• Future-in-the-Past Continuous: She said that we would be working ing the whole day — She issaid, whatwewe willworkwholeday.
• Present Perfect Continuous: He has been read ing since 3 o'clock — He is reading With three hours.
• Past Perfect Continuous: They had been walking ing for an hour when they saw the town — They are walked already hour, when saw city.
• Future Perfect Continuous: The kids will have been sleeping ing since afternoon when the nurse comes — kids Will sleep With noon, when will come nanny.

In addition to the above advantages of this ending, it should be recalled that it forms the so-called fourth form of irregular verbs. Of course, you remember her:

• To see - saw - seen - see ing

Note that verbs with endings - ing, when translated into Russian, they acquire the meaning of imperfective verbs, that is, not a completed action, but an action that is still ongoing.

Ending -ing and other parts of speech

You probably already guessed that the end - ing participates not only in the formation of tenses of verbs, but helps to form forms of other parts of speech in English, such as:

• Gerund (gerund): Sue likes be ing praised — Sue likes to be praised.
• Participle: The talk ing girl is my sister — talkinggirl- mysister.
• adjective An amus ing program — funnybroadcast. An interest ing question - interestingquestion

We read and pronounce -ing correctly!

Friends, the rules for reading this ending with words are as easy as shelling pears! Firstly, there is only one rule, and secondly:

The ending - ing always pronounced like nasal [- IN] in which the [g] sound should not be heard.

That's all, dear readers! That's all you need to know about how to read or pronounce such words correctly. In a hurry or out of habit, we often say not, but. However, this is wrong. Follow the correct pronunciation, friends, and you will not be distinguished from a native Englishman.

Well, that's all we wanted to tell you about the end - ing. Learn English with fun and with pleasure, then you will definitely succeed!

All in all, simple in essence. But there is one catch - there are also peculiar exceptions here, from the series. But these are the most normal verbs, we just cannot use them when denoting an extended, lasting event. In other words, even in Russian, these verbs are not used for continuous actions. As a rule, these are static verbs and verbs of emotions and feelings: know, love, own, hate, prefer, realize, have, etc. After all, we don’t even say in Russian: “I love fried potatoes now” or “Last night I hated this boring movie.” So for once we are dealing with a similar situation in Russian and English!
So, verbs not used with -ing ending (that is, always used only in present or in Perfect):

• Believe- believe
• Depend- depend
• belong- belong
• contain- contain
• Forget- forget
• Hate- to hate
• Like- like
• Love- be in love
• Matter- matter
• need- need
• own- own
• Preferred- prefer
• Realize- be aware
• Remember- remember
• Suppose- assume
• want- to want
• know- know
• mean- matter
• seem- seem
• understand- understand

For example:

Now I don't remember his name.
I am not remembering his name now.
I don't remember his name now.

There is currently no salt in this solution.
At the moment this solution is not containing salt.
At the moment this solution doesn't contain salt.

Unfortunately, this is where the similarities end. And the usual course of things in the English language begins, when in some cases we can put the verb in continuous tense, and in others we can put the same verb only in simple tenses. It’s good at least that there are only a couple of such verbs.

Table. non-progressive verbs

For example:

I am thinking of moving to Australia.
I'm thinking of moving to Australia.

I think you should move to Australia.
I think you should move to Australia.

Anna is still seeing that John from the Supplies Department.
Anna is still dating this John from Supply.

Now I see who is knocking at my door.
Now I see who is knocking at my door.

English grammar has its own characteristics.In order to speak fluently in a foreign language, you need to know the rules for constructing sentences and the basics of word formation. When the basics become clear, expressing your thoughts in English will not cause difficulties. One of the important components of grammar is ending ing in English. Rules we will discuss its use below.

When is the ending -ing used?

There are three such cases:

1. Gerund.
2. Verbal noun.
3. Present participle.

In order to understand in which cases ing (the ending in English) is placed, the rules of use must be thoroughly memorized. This will help to understand the essence of the above concepts.

What is a gerund?

The gerund causes difficulties in understanding, since it does not have a similar grammatical form in Russian. A gerund is a verb in an impersonal form, which is used to name an action. The peculiarity of the gerund is that it combines an action and an object or process. When forming it, the ending ing in English is used. The rules for constructing sentences are quite simple. For example: I love playing different games. - I like to play different games.

When is the gerund used?

Gerund is used in the following cases:

1. After certain verbs like enjoy, finish, suggest and others.
2. When forming stable phrases using some prepositions. For example, the idea of to be good at, the advantage of etc .
3. After the adjectives worth and busy.
4. After the prepositions on (upon), after, before and others.

When is a verbal noun used?

When forming a verbal noun, the ending ing in English is used. The rules for its translation are quite simple, since a noun is also used to designate it in Russian.

Verbal nouns are used in speech with an article or with a possessive pronoun. A verbal noun can be either singular or plural. For example: Her loud talking gets on my nerves.

When is the present participle used?

1. Before a noun, a participle is used, in which there is ending ing. In English the rules The construction of the proposal can be clearly seen in the example: The rising sun is very beautiful.
2. In sentences with participial turnover:The girl standing by the door is my sister.
3. In sentences that consist of a verb, object and participle: She saw him getting on the bus.
4. When forming the times Present, Perfect, Future and Past Continuous. To form this group of tenses, a verb with the ending - ing. For example: She was watching TV when somebody knocked at the door. In this sentence, the Past Continuous is used. He is driving to office at the moment (Present Continuous time).He was very tired, he had been working hard all week (Past Perfect Continuous time). Don "t call me tomorrow between 1 and 2, I'll be having dinner (Future Continuous time).

Turnover to be going to, what does it mean and when is it used

In addition to the above cases of using the ending -ing in English, there is a stable turnover to be going to, in which the verb with the ending -ing is also used. With the help of this phraseological unit, any actions that will be performed in the near future are expressed. The infinitive is attached to this turnover and means the action that the person is going to perform. This expression is translated into Russian as "to be going to do or do something." For example, I "m going to visit my friend. - I will go to visit my friend.

Ing - ending in English. Writing rules

There are few rules for writing, only 4.

1. When a verb ends in a consonant preceded by a stressed vowel, the consonant is doubled: run - running.
2. If there is no stressed vowel before the last consonant, then there is no doubling either: open-opening.
3. When a word ends in -e, the ending is omitted: take - taking.
4. If the word ends in -ie, this combination of letters is replaced by y : lie - lying .