Hello again and welcome back to another post from our Grappling Grammar series. In this week’s entry, we will be discussing the main uses of the ing form or the gerund in English. On top of its use in the continuous tenses such as the present continuous in this example: “We are studying English at the moment” (De momento, estamos estudiando inglés), we can also use the gerund in a variety of different ways:
After certain verbs.
In many cases where we use verbs that express likes and dislikes, we can use the ing form after this verb. These verbs can include:
- Like (gustar)
- Dislike (no gustar)
- Love (encantar)
- Hate (odiar)
- Enjoy (disfrutar)
- Not mind (no importar)
- Can’t stand (no poder soportar)
Here are some examples of the ing form in use with these verbs:
- He loves going to the cinema with his friends. (Le encanta ir al cine con sus amigos)
- She can’t stand listening to classical music. (No puede soportar de escuchar música clásica)
Adjective + preposition + ing.
In some expressions including adjectives and prepositions you can include a verb in the ing form such as:
- Good/bad at (ser bueno/malo en)
- Crazy about (loco por)
- Tired of (estar cansado de)
- Keen on/ interested in (interesado en)
- Afraid of (con miedo de)
Here are some examples:
- James is afraid of spiders (James tiene miedo a las arañas)
- We’re interested in learning English (Nos interesa en aprender inglés)
- John is crazy about playing football (John está loco por jugar al fútbol)
-ing as the subject of the sentence.
The ing form can also be used to form the subject of the sentence. In most cases, the ing subject goes at the start of the sentence. Here are some examples:
- Cycling is good for your health (El ciclismo es bueno para la salud)
- Eating a lot of sugar is bad for you (Comer mucho azúcar es malo para la salud)
- Spending time with family and friends is fun (Pasar tiempo con la familia y los amigos es divertido)
Those are the essential elements of using the ing form. Don’t forget to download the PDF and check out some of the activities to reinforce your understanding of this grammar lesson.