Friday March 7, 2008
The ‘-ing’ word
RAMBLINGS by DR LIM CHIN LAM
IN the past, I have, on and off, contributed unsolicited material to Mind Our English – to put my two cents’ worth into the controversy at hand, or to create controversy for the sheer heck of it! But not any more.
Recently, my cellphone showed the following SMS: “Dr Lim, would you like to write a regular column for Mind Our English? Fortnightly, perhaps? – Thuan Chye.”
I replied, “Okay” – yes, a nonchalant “okay” (although inside me was a big WOW! – that the editor of Mind Our English should reach out to me from out of the blue!) Moreover, I was flattered that a busy editor could bother to type out an SMS in recognisable script. (TQ, Mr Kee, 4 0 using hieroglyphics & #%>&(BY & Z4?£^$@!)
SMSes followed in quick succession. I could choose my topics – but “no pedantic or hair-splitting stuff. Teaching in a fun way is preferred. Use language that’s easy to understand. Fewer than 800 words per piece. Please think of a name for the column.”
Suggesting a name for the column did not turn out to be easy. I suggested ‘Rambling through English’. I thought that the word “ramble” (meaning “to walk for pleasure with no special destination, especially in the countryside”) was apt.
I was hoping to wander through the countryside that is the English language; “to stand and stare”; and, together with my fellow-learners, to savour the delights and quirks of the language. But no, the editor said. “Title could be more catchy, pithy.”
I suggested other titles, including ‘Tune Up with English’ (too pretentious), ‘Staying in Tune’ (less so), ‘Following up on/with English’, and ‘Musings’. We settled for ‘Ramblings’ (innocuous, not pretentious at all).
Grammatically, “ramblings” is an interesting word, one of at least four types of -ing words. Let us examine each of these four types formed by tagging the suffix -ing to a word (almost always a verb).
(1) Present participle. Attached to a verb as an inflection, -ing forms the present participle (go/going, come/coming, run/running). We use the present participle in the usual way (the baby is crying) or as an attributive adjective (the crying baby).
Used together with the appropriate auxiliary verb, the participle forms the present continuous tense (the baby is crying), the present perfect continuous tense (she has been telling the truth all the time), and the future continuous tense (I shall be leaving for Kuala Lumpur soon).
(2) Gerund. The -ing suffix also goes to form gerunds (walking is good for you/ he does not like swimming/ swimming can be relaxing).
Gerunds are a very interesting set of words. They are of dual nature, being verbs as well as nouns. Being nouns, they can take an adjective (brisk walking is recommended for younger people). Being verbs, they can take adverbs (walking slowly is recommended for older people). Furthermore, as verbs, gerunds can govern a direct object (she has the habit of nagging him).
(3) Preposition. This represents the few verbs, with -ing attached, which function as prepositions (he is still mentally alert, considering his age/ failing to get a response, he knocked down the door/ pending approval, all construction work stopped) or phrasal preposition (owing to the rain, he changed his mind).
(4) Substantive. This represents a group of -ing words which are not prepositions or participles; and unlike gerunds, they do not function as verbs. They are nouns through and through. Unlike gerunds, they may have the plural form (legging/leggings, meeting/meetings, warning/warnings, wedding/weddings).
They may also take all types of adjectives – indefinite adjective, commonly called indefinite article (a meeting), definite adjective, commonly called definite article (the meeting), numeral adjective (three meetings/ fourth meeting), and so on.
“Ramblings” is one such substantive!
That’s enough rambling for now.
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