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-ing is asuffix used to make one of theinflected forms ofEnglish verbs. This verb form is used as apresent participle, as agerund, and sometimes as an independentnoun oradjective. The suffix is also found in certain words likemorning andceiling, and in names such asBrowning.
TheModern English-ing ending, which is used to form both gerunds and present participles of verbs (i.e. in noun and adjective uses), derives from two different historical suffixes.
The gerund (noun) use comes fromMiddle English-ing, which is fromOld English-ing,-ung (suffixes forming nouns from verbs). These in turn are fromProto-Germanic*-inga-,*-unga-,[1]*-ingō,*-ungō, whichVittore Pisani [it] derives fromProto-Indo-European*-enkw-.[2] This use of English-ing is thuscognate with the-ing suffix ofDutch,West Frisian, and theNorth Germanic languages, and withGerman-ung.
The-ing of Modern English in itsparticipial (adjectival) use comes from Middle English-inge,-ynge, supplanting the earlier-inde,-ende,-and, from the Old English present participle ending-ende. This is from Proto-Germanic*-andz, from the Proto-Indo-European*-nt-, and is cognate with Dutch and German-end,Swedish-ande,-ende,Latin-ans,-ant-,Ancient Greek-ον (-on), andSanskrit-ant.-inde,-ende,-and later assimilated with the noun and gerund suffix-ing. Its remnants, however, are still retained in a few verb-derived words such asfriend,fiend, andbond (in the sense of "peasant, vassal").
Thestandard pronunciation in modern English is/ɪŋ/, with avelar nasal consonant. Variants include/ɪŋg/ (e.g. Northern England),/ɪn/ or/ən/ (widespread) and/i(ː)n/ (mainly US,[3] but also in Canada[4]).
The variants with/n/ may be denoted in writing with anapostrophe:runnin' forrunning. Sometimes known asg-dropping, the use of variants such as these is one of the most frequently studiedsociolinguisticvariables in English.
All English verbs (except formodals and otherdefective verbs that do not have gerunds or participles) make the inflected form in‑ing regularly. Thusgo makesgoing,read makesreading,fail makesfailing, and so on. In certain cases there are spelling changes, such as doubling of consonants (as insit →sitting) or omission ofmutee (as inchange →changing). It does not apply in the case of monosyllabic words in English that are omitting themutee (as inage becomingageing, thoughaging is also found). For details of these rules, seeEnglish verbs.
The-ing form of a verb has bothnoun uses andadjectival (oradverbial) uses. In either case it may function as anon-finite verb (for example, by takingdirect objects), or as a pure noun or adjective. When it behaves as a non-finite verb, it is called agerund in the noun case, and apresent participle in the adjectival or adverbial case. Uses as pure noun or adjective may be calleddeverbal uses.
The distinctions between these uses are explained in the following sections.
Gerunds and present participles are two types ofnon-finite verb; the difference is that gerunds are used to producenoun phrases, and participles to produceadjectival oradverbial phrases. This is illustrated in the following examples:
Confusion is most likely to arise when the-ing word follows a verb, in which case it may be apredicate adjective and hence a participle, or a direct object (or predicate nominative) and hence a gerund. There are certaintransformations that can help distinguish these two cases. In the table that follows, the transformations produce grammatical sentences with similar meanings when applied to sentences with gerunds (since the transformations are based on the assumption that the phrase with the-ing word is a noun phrase). When applied to sentences with participles, they produce ungrammatical sentences or sentences with completely different meanings. (These cases are marked withasterisks.)
| Transformation | Gerund use | Participle use |
|---|---|---|
| (none) | John suggestedasking Bill. | John keptasking Bill. |
| Passivization | Asking Bill was suggested. | *Asking Bill was kept. |
| Pronoun substitution | John suggested it. | *John kept it. |
| Substitution of pure noun | John suggested the asking of Bill. | *John kept the asking of Bill. |
| Replacement withfinite clause | John suggested that Bill be asked. | *John kept that Bill be asked. |
| Subject marking withpossessive | John suggested our asking Bill. | *John kept his asking Bill. |
| Clefting | Asking Bill is what John suggested. | *Asking Bill is what John kept. |
| Left dislocation | Asking Bill John suggested. | *Asking Bill John kept. |
For more details of the usage of English gerunds and present participles, seeUses of non-finite verbs in English.
When used as a gerund or present participle, the-ing form is anon-finite verb, which behaves like a (finite) verb in that it forms averb phrase, taking typical verb dependents and modifiers such asobjects and adverbs. That verb phrase is then used within a larger sentence, with the function of an adjective or adverb (in the case of the participle) or with the function of a noun (in the case of the gerund).
However the same verb-derived-ing forms are also sometimes used as pure nouns or adjectives.[5] In this case the word does not form a verb phrase; any modifiers it takes will be of a grammatical kind which is appropriate to a noun or adjective respectively.
For example:
When used as a pure noun or adjective (i.e. having lost its grammatical verbal character), the-ing form may be called adeverbal noun ordeverbal adjective. Terminology varies, however; it may also be called averbal noun or adjective (on the grounds that it is derived from a verb). In other cases the latter terms may be applied additionally, or exclusively, to gerunds and participles, as well as other non-finite verb forms such asinfinitives.
In some situations, the distinction between gerund/participle uses and deverbal uses may be lost, particularly when the-ing word appears on its own. For example, in "I like swimming", it is not clear whetherswimming is intended as a gerund (as it would be in "I like swimming fast"), or as a pure noun (as in "I like competitive swimming"). There may be a distinction in meaning between the two interpretations: as a gerund, it means that the speaker likes to swim, while as a pure noun it does not specify in what way the speaker enjoys the activity (as a competitor, spectator, etc.)
The-ing form used as a pure noun usually denotes the action encoded by the verb (either in general or in a particular instance), as in the above examples. However it sometimes comes to take on other meanings, such as a physical object or system of objects:building,fencing,piping, etc.
For more information on the uses of non-finite verbs and verbal nouns, seeUses of non-finite verbs in English.
English words constructed from verbs with the ending-ing are sometimes borrowed into other languages. In some cases they becomepseudo-anglicisms, taking on new meanings or uses which are not found in English. For instance:
OtherGermanic languages (includingDutch,Danish,Swedish,Norwegian, andIcelandic) have a native-ing suffix, used mainly to form verbal action nouns, though generally not as productively as in English. For details, see theWiktionary entry for-ing.
InBalochi the suffix-ag is used in a similar manner as-ing, by adding the suffix to the first form of a verb in order to construct a continuous verb, or to convert a verb into a noun. For example,war (eat) becomeswarag (eating) orÒšt (stand) becomesÒštag (standing).
The suffix-ing also has other uses in English, although these are less common. It may be used to form derivative nouns (originally masculine) with the sense "son of" or "belonging to", used aspatronymics ordiminutives. Examples of this use include surnames likeBrowning,Channing andEwing, and common nouns likebunting,shilling, andfarthing. The suffix can also mean "having a specified quality", as used insweeting,whiting, andgelding.
For further details see theWiktionary entry for-ing.
Another pronunciation even more widely heard among older teens and adults in California and throughout the West is 'een' for -ing, as in 'I'm think-een of go-een camp-een.'