• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Articles & lessons
    • Grammar & vocabulary lessons
    • IELTS preparation
    • British culture
    • All articles and lessons
  • About
  • Contact
Crown Academy of English

English lessons and resources




You are here: Home / English lessons / The ing form of English verbs

The ing form of English verbs

1st July 2016 by Andrew

The “ing form” refers to verbs when they end in the letters “ing”

Example for the verb “fish”, the ing form is fishing

When is the ing form used?

There are 3 main uses of the ing form in English grammar:

Continuous tenses

Examples:


I am fishing. (present continuous tense)
He was fishing. (past continuous)
We will be fishing. (future continuous)

As an adjective

For certain verbs, the ing form is in fact a present participle and is used exactly like an adjective.

When used like this, the -ing adjective expresses the source or cause of a feeling or emotion.

Examples:

verb: “interest” > interesting
The book is very interesting.

Verb: “frighten” > frightening
The horror film was very frightening.

As a gerund

A gerund is when a verb is used like a noun. It can then be used as the subject of the sentence or the object of the sentence.

Examples:

fishing

Fishing is my favourite hobby.
(fishing is acting as a noun. Here it is the subject of the sentence and the main verb is the verb “to be”.)

I like fishing.
(fishing is acting as a noun. Here it is the object of the verb “like”.)

Spelling rules of the ing form

In this section, you will learn the grammar rules for how to spell the ing form for different types of regular and irregular verbs.

Most regular verbs

Add -ing to the base form:

sing > singing
carry > carrying
drink > drinking

Verbs ending in silent -e

Delete the -e and add -ing

observe > observing
write > writing
explode > exploding

Verbs ending in -ie

Change the -ie to -y and add -ing

tie > tying
die > dying

Verbs ending in -ee

add -ing

free > freeing
see > seeing

Verbs ending in -c

add -king to the base form.

mimic > mimicking
panic > panicking

Verbs ending in a single vowel and a single consonant (except -w -x -y)

for 1 syllable verbs:

Double the consonant and add -ing

run > running
cut > cutting
sit > sitting

for 2 syllable verbs (except verbs ending in -l):

If the 2nd syllable is stressed:

double the consonant and add -ing

admit -> admitting
commit -> committing

If the 2nd syllable is NOT stressed:

add -ing

target > targeting
visit > visiting

EXCEPTION for 2 syllable verbs ending in -l

In British English:
double the -l and add -ing

cancel > cancelling
travel > travelling

In American English:
Use the normal rule for 2 syllable verbs (see above):

cancel > canceling (because the 2nd syllable is not stressed)
travel > traveling (because the 2nd syllable is not stressed)

Video lesson

Below is a video lesson explaining ing verbs with more information and examples.

There are over 100 English video lessons on the Crown Academy of English YouTube channel.

Filed Under: English lessons

More lessons

eggs

SOME and ANY – determiners

SOME and ANY are determiners. We use them before a noun. They express the amount or quantity of a noun. SOME and ANY are used differently for … [Read More...] about SOME and ANY – determiners

Potatoes

Plural forms of English nouns

In this lesson, you will learn how to form the plural form of nouns. Only countable nouns have a plural forum. Uncountable nouns (example "milk", … [Read More...] about Plural forms of English nouns

either and neither

How to use either and neither – English lesson

In this lesson, you will learn the following things: Pronunciation of either There are 2 ways to pronounce "either": Pronunciation 1: … [Read More...] about How to use either and neither – English lesson

GOING TO – English future tense

Look at the following sentence:  Tonight, I am going to read a book. This is a future tense. It describes our intention to read a book at some … [Read More...] about GOING TO – English future tense

Manhattan

ADVICE or ADVISE – The differences

"advice" and "advise" often confuse English students because they look very similar. What is the difference between "advice" and "advise"? Find the … [Read More...] about ADVICE or ADVISE – The differences

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Qaissar says

    1st December 2016 at 8:46 pm

    Thanks for all team membres Who contribute giving useful knowledge and distribute enough culture…in terms of this section

    • Qaissar says

      1st December 2016 at 8:56 pm

      I thanks you about tour efforts

  2. alpa says

    27th June 2017 at 9:18 am

    Thank you Andrew . its really helpful

Primary Sidebar

Lessons

native english speaker

How to understand native English speakers

girl reading

How to improve your English vocabulary

peas on spoon

“a little” and “a few ” to describe quantity

doctor

The difference between practice and practise

Girl wearing headphones

Difference between hear and listen

handbag

compliment or complement





Footer

Follow us on social media

Crown Academy of English on YouTube Crown Academy of English on Twitter

Privacy policy

Privacy policy

Recent

  • 8 ways to say that something is FREE in English
  • English idioms and expressions related to CRIME
  • How to use either and neither – English lesson
  • Learn English vocabulary – Vegetables
  • English Idioms related to speed

Search