Here’s a student example of using a verb-ing form as a noun subject:
Studying for an exam won’t be hard for you if you follow these steps.
PELIC: Chinese male level 3 writing class.
Here’s an example in educational materials of the news:
Closing the gas pipeline is one action Western nations have taken against Russia.
Here’s an example of verb-ing after ‘to’:
The find goes a long way to solving the mystery of why the Stonehenge bluestones were brought from so far away
when all other stone circles were erected within a short distance of their quarries.
In the English Grammar Profile, point 22 in NOUNS at A2 is defined as:
‘-ing’ forms of verbs as nouns, in object position, to refer to activities.
Examples include: like_II swimming_VVG, and_CC going_VVG shopping_VVG, I_PPIS1 prefer_VV0 dancing_NN1, practised_VVD windsurfing_NN1
*notice the tagger has added _nn1 to dancing and windsurfing. This also partly overlaps:
Point 6 in PREPOSITIONS/phrases at A2 is defined as:
the ‘-ing’ form of verbs as complements.
Point 50 in NOUNS at B2 is defined as:
‘-ing’ form of verbs as nouns in subject position.
- Working_VVG until_II
- Climbing_NN1 is_VBZ
- Living_VVG in_RP
*There is also some overlap with point 98 in clauses at B2 too. Note also that there is no entry in the EGP for gerunds subjects in questions. This would be at least B2, but C1 is more appropriate since questions are generally more complex.
Point 51 in NOUNS at C1:
‘-ing’ form of verbs as abstract nouns.
EGP examples include:
- Learning_VVG English_NN1 has_VHZ,
- Advertising_NN1 seems_VVZ,
- Teaching_NN1 is_VBZ
Point 51 is too difficult to locate in corpora because it depends on an interpretation of whether you can perceive something. Can I see someone teaching? Most would say yes, but it’s not really a simple action like speaking to the class or writing on the board. I can see someone reading, but not see whether they are actually learning. I can see someone putting paper in my letterbox, but it might not be advertising. The other problem is that the same verb could be used in both concrete and abstract ways. For example:
- Adding salt to the soup is optional. (I can see the person put salt in.)
- Adding to the confusion is the right arrow key. (I can’t see the key doing anything.)
Concrete nouns are perceptible and tangible. Abstract nouns are not perceptible and tangible, such as qualities, states of mind, and events.
*All examples for subject need to be split between B2 and C1. The most logical way would be defined by vocabulary.
B1 vocabulary and above would suit the C1 and the A1 and A2 vocabulary would suit the B2 grammar.
. _vvg
A2:
following (but this is often a preposition),
adding,
1 . ADDING INSULT TO INJURY, 382 C2 idiom
2 . ADDING TO THE CONFUSION, 93
3 . ADDING A FEW DROPS OF 87
4 . ADDING TO THAT, THE 76
5 . ADDING FUEL TO THE FIRE 73
6 . ADDING A SMALL AMOUNT OF 70
Tom’s Hardware
keeping
1 . KEEPING THIS IN MIND WILL 37
2 . KEEPING AN OPEN MIND IS 19
3 . KEEPING THIS IN MIND CAN 16
4 . KEEPING A FOOD DIARY CAN 15
Body and Soul
B1:
21 . CREATING 32570
1 . CREATING AN ACCOUNT IS FREE 45
2 . CREATING A SENSE OF URGENCY 27
3 . CREATING AN ACCOUNT IS EASY 23
29 . SETTING 27846 33 . PROVIDING 22340 53 . REMOVING 15524 59 . APPLYING 14371 69 . ALLOWING 12578 73 . JUDGING 11552 75 . SELECTING 11386 86 . OPERATING 10660 87 . PLANNING 10577 93 . COMPARING 10080 95 . REDUCING 9986 97 . REPLACING 9731
A search for lemmas with _vv *ing_vvg_nn1
1 [START] [THINK] 35251
Bryan-College Station Eagle2 [CONTINUE] [READ] 28193
3 [KEEP] [READ] 17341
4 [START] [WRITE] 11637
5 [STOP] [THINK] 10348
6 [KEEP] [THINK] 10126
7 [START] [LEARN] 9293
8 [START] [RUN] 8697
9 [START] [READ] 7815
10 [ENJOY] [READ] 7789
11 [START] [SELL] 7308
12 [REMEMBER] [READ] 7043
13 [MACHINE] [LEARN] 6576
14 [START] [PLAN] 6560
15 [KEEP] [RUN] 6462
16 [START] [SAVE] 6365
17 [LOVE] [HEAR] 5948
18 [START] [FEEL] 5879
19 [MAKE] [LEARN] 5612
20 [START] [WALK] 5525
21 [ENJOY] [LEARN] 5493
22 [LOVE] [READ] 5463
23 [KEEP] [HEAR] 5122
24 [START] [EAT] 4948
25 [STOP] [EAT] 4899
26 [START] [DATE] 4871
27 [REMEMBER] [THINK] 4768
28 [START] [SHOOT] 4605
29 [ENJOY] [LISTEN] 4603
30 [START] [LISTEN] 4575
31 [COME] [RUN] 4424
32 [RECOMMEND] [START] 4354
33 [START] [MAKE] 4269
34 [STOP] [READ] 4237
35 [START] [TEACH] 4150
36 [LEAVE] [FEEL] 4047
37 [ENJOY] [HELP] 3771
38 [START] [BUY] 3746
39 [START] [DRINK] 3620
40 [LOVE] [HELP] 3499
41 [DRAG] [RACE] 3426
42 [LOVE] [LEARN] 3394
43 [START] [CRY] 3326
44 [STOP] [BUY] 3274
45 [LOVE] [LIVE] 3194
46 [GO] [SWIM] 3192
47 [KEEP] [FIGHT] 3130
48 [START] [HAPPEN] 3109
49 [START] [SHOP] 3051
50 [CONSIDER] [BUY] 3039
51 [REMEMBER] [HEAR] 2962
52 [STOP] [DRINK] 2827
53 [STOP] [TALK] 2823
54 [COME] [KNOCK] 2687
55 [ENJOY] [WRITE] 2639
56 [GIVE] [MEAN] 2614
57 [STOP] [LISTEN] 2606
58 [STOP] [RUN] 2600
59 [BASE] [LEARN] 2592
60 [LOVE] [LISTEN] 2588
61 [ENJOY] [LIVE] 2502
62 [START] [POST] 2448
63 [START] [SHIP] 2398
64 [START] [OFFER] 2359
65 [STOP] [SELL] 2289
66 [START] [TALK] 2276
67 [KEEP] [SAY] 2249
68 [ENJOY] [HIKE] 2247
69 [CONTINUE] [LIVE] 2216
70 [GO] [HIKE] 2215
71 [START] [TYPE] 2215
72 [REQUIRE] [READ] 2209
73 [ENJOY] [TRAVEL] 2186
74 [QUIT] [SMOKE] 2180
75 [COME] [CALL] 2179
76 [FIND] [MEAN] 2153
77 [SUGGEST] [START] 2145
78 [START] [LIVE] 2127
79 [RECOMMEND] [READ] 2087
80 [KEEP] [WALK] 2080
81 [FINISH] [READ] 2041
82 [ENJOY] [HEAR] 2014
83 [IMAGINE] [LIVE] 2014
84 [AVOID] [EAT] 1995
85 [START] [DRAW] 1993
86 [GO] [FLY] 1970
87 [SEE] [WALK] 1967
88 [RECOMMEND] [BUY] 1959
89 [LOVE] [WRITE] 1953
90 [MAKE] [SHOP] 1930
91 [START] [RECORD] 1918
92 [LOAD] [BALANCE] 1912
93 [SEE] [HAPPEN] 1908
94 [KEEP] [ASK] 1867
95 [KEEP] [WRITE] 1828
96 [KEEP] [BUY] 1823
97 [KEEP] [RISE] 1808
98 [CONSIDER] [SWITCH] 1805
99 [HELP] [THINK] 1790
100 [LOVE] [TEACH] 1790
_i _vvg
1 BY USING 473413
The Drinks Business
2 OF USING 265016
3 OF GETTING 263917
4 OF MAKING 235579
5 FOR MAKING 210708
6 BY CLICKING 197906
7 FOR SHARING 193044
8 BY PROVIDING 161342
9 BY MAKING 159053
10 OF WORKING 151870
11 IN MAKING 149984
12 BY ADDING 149789
13 BY TAKING 139287
14 TO MAKING 122591
15 FOR GETTING 113728
16 FOR TAKING 112461
17 OF TAKING 111743
18 FOR CREATING 109889
19 OF CREATING 108028
20 TO USING 103724
21 ABOUT GETTING 98728
22 BY CALLING 98045
23 IN HELPING 97518
24 AFTER READING 97403
25 TO PROVIDING 97311
26 OF GOING 96443
27 FOR USING 94905
28 TO GETTING 94754
29 TO WORKING 93135
30 BY CREATING 92519
31 IN GETTING 91911
32 IN WRITING 91433
33 OF TRYING 88857
34 BY GIVING 87920
35 BY SAYING 87262
36 FROM GETTING 82341
37 BY GOING 81434
38 IN CREATING 80629
39 OF PLAYING 79679
40 BY LOOKING 79106
41 TO SEEING 76560
42 OF PROVIDING 76094
43 BEFORE GOING 75448
44 ON GETTING 74957
45 OF LIVING 74093
46 OF GIVING 73440
47 IN PROVIDING 73368
48 ABOUT MAKING 72624
49 OF FINDING 72200
50 OF LEARNING 71970
51 BEFORE MAKING 70097
52 FOR HELPING 69254
53 OF BECOMING 69125
54 OF WRITING 68600
55 BY OFFERING 68348
56 TO HELPING 67530
57 FOR PROVIDING 67355
58 ABOUT USING 67186
59 BY FOLLOWING 66757
60 ON MAKING 65984
61 OF KEEPING 65981
62 ON USING 65160
63 FOR KEEPING 65040
64 IN DEVELOPING 64859
65 IN USING 64660
66 FROM USING 64232
67 TO JOINING 63290
68 AFTER TAKING 62889
69 BEFORE MOVING 61309
70 OF RUNNING 60588
71 IN DETERMINING 60367
72 OF SEEING 60288
73 OF MOVING 59008
74 BY PUTTING 58945
75 FOR WORKING 58264
76 OF WINNING 58188
77 BY SELECTING 57949
78 BEFORE TAKING 57769
79 IN WORKING 57584
80 OF BUYING 57531
81 AFTER GETTING 56113
82 FOR READING 56049
83 IN LEARNING 55614
84 OF PUTTING 55033
85 TO CREATING 54879
86 OF LOSING 54659
87 BY GETTING 54636
88 IN FINDING 53888
89 AFTER SEEING 53321
90 BY WORKING 53262
91 WORTH NOTING 52614
92 AFTER COMPLETING 52335
93 BEFORE STARTING 52170
94 OF LOOKING 51372
95 OF BUILDING 50682
96 BY ALLOWING 50371
97 BY SENDING 49896
98 BY PLACING 49623
99 BY SETTING 49290
100 BEFORE USING 49289
Here we did a search for possible questions + gerunds in NOW corpus:
. _VBZ _VVG
*note that many examples are informal comments, not questions.
1 . IS LOOKING 147
Is looking beautiful like a job or hobby to you?
2 . IS GOING 137
3 . IS SEEKING 135
4 . IS TAKING 111
5 . IS WORKING 111
6 . IS TRYING 102
7 . IS AVERAGING 98
8 . IS PLANNING 94
9 . IS MAKING 90
10 . IS ACTING 85