Verbs +ING
Verbs +ING
Verbs +ING
Examples:
With some verbs you can use the structure verb + somebody + -ing
Compare:
Verb + -ing (without an object)
I wouldn’t recommend staying in that hotel
She doesn’t allow smoking in the house
Like
You can say “I like doing something” or “I like to do something”. Often it doesn’t matter
which you use, so you can say:
• I like getting up early. or I like to get up early.
In British English, there is sometimes a difference between “I like doing”and “I like to do”.
Some English verbs, which we call state, non-continuous or stative verbs, aren’t used in
continuous tenses (i.e. present or past continuous). These verbs often describe states that
last for some time. A verb which isn’t stative is called a dynamic verb, and is usually an
action.
Be
Be is usually a state verb, but when it is used in the continuous it means ‘behaving’ or
‘acting’
• you are stupid = it’s part of your personality
• you are being stupid = only now, not usually
Think
think (stative) = have an opinion
- I think that coffee is great
See
see (stative) = see with your eyes / understand
- I see what you mean
- I see her now, she’s just coming along the road
Taste
taste (stative) = has a certain taste
- This soup tastes great
- The coffee tastes really bitter
taste (dynamic) = the action of tasting
- The chef is tasting the soup