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Status of -ING Words – Nouns, Verbs or Adjectives

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Before we start talking about -ING words, it’s worth mentioning that in English in general it’s not always easy to classify a word as a noun, verb or adjective. Many words belong to more than one category, like for example the word FIRM, which may be:

– a noun: a consulting firm (a firm = a company)

– a verb: the market is firming (to firm = to improve)

– an adjective: a firm cheese (firm = hard, solid)

There is a group of words that are sometimes particularly difficult to classify as belonging to one of the aforementioned categories. These are words ending in –ING. For example the word WORKING – is it a noun, a verb or an adjective? Have a look:

She was working in the garden.

They belonged to the working class.

She finds pleasure in working.

So, how do we know which category a word like this belongs to? There are some tests that can help us out.

An -ING word is a noun if…

An –ING word may be considered a noun if:

1) it’s a lexicalized word that denotes a physical entity:

I bought two paintings and hid them in the building.

2) it’s preceded by determiners or adjectives:

My dancing is pretty good, but what about her weird hopping on the stage that she calls the best dancing in this part of the globe?

3) it’s followed by a phrase that starts with OF:

The banning of this material will have serious consequences.

4) it’s followed by a relative clause:

The buzzing, which was driving me mad, finally stopped.

5) it can be used in plural:

I attended some of the meetings, but not all of them.

6) it’s used as a modifier and can be paraphrased by the nominal use of the –ING form, often preceded by FOR or OF:

Living standards were better than ever. → Standards of living were better than ever.

I bought a traveling alarm clock. → I bought an alarm clock for traveling.

An -ING word is a verb if …

An –ING word may be considered a verb if:

1) it’s followed by an object:

Writing a book is a tedious task.

2) it’s qualified by an adverbial:

Sleeping during the day is not good for your health.

3) it’s used after the verb BE and there is a nonprogressive form of the verb that can be used without an object:

The girl was missing. (the girl missed)

An -ING is an adjective if…

An –ING word may be considered an adjective if:

1) it follows the verb BE and is not part of a progressive tense form:

What you just said was confusing.

2) it’s preceded by a degree adverb modifier:

It was quite surprising, but very interesting.

3) it’s used as a modifier and can be paraphrased by a relative clause:

Living creatures should be protected. → Creatures that live should be protected.

4) it’s used after the verb BE and there isn’t a nonprogressive form of the verb that can be used without an object:

The project was promising. (*the project promised)

5) it follows a copular verb other than BE:

The book seems interesting, but the movie looks fascinating.

6) it begins with the negative prefix UN-:

I’ve always admired her unyielding belief in her husband.

7) it can be turned into an adverb by means of the ending –LY:

It was surprising how well she did it. → She did it surprisingly well.

Some ambiguous cases:

The tests described above often help, but there are some ambiguous situations. Have a look at these examples:

Noun or Verb?

Here we have the sentence:

There is no denying it.

Here the word DENYING is followed by an object (IT), which would suggest it’s a verb. On the other hand, it’s preceded by the determiner NO, which would suggest it’s a noun.

Another example:

The machine needs checking.

Is the word CHECKING a noun or a verb? Looks like a noun, if we precede it with an adjective:

The machine needs careful checking.

But this is also fine:

The machine needs checking carefully.

This time we have an adverb. Adverbs modify verbs, so maybe it’s a verb after all?

In cases like these it’s hard to tell if the –ING word is a noun or a verb. Usually words used like this are considered verbs, but I would rather leave the question open.

Noun or Adjective?

Here’s an example with an –ING word which is used as a modifier:

The warning shots were heard in a distance.

Is WARNING a noun or an adjective?

On one hand we know that if an –ING modifier can be paraphrased by the nominal use of the –ING form, it’s a noun. Let’s try to paraphrase the word WARNING then:

The shots intended as a warning were heard in a distance.

So, you can do it, so it should be a noun.

On the other hand, though, we know that if an –ING modifier can be paraphrased by a relative clause, it’s an adjective. Let’s try this out now:

The shots which warn were heard in a distance.

This would suggest it’s an adjective. So, this is another ambiguous example.

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