Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Civasconcelos]

Hi,

Can someone tell me the actual rule for the following:

have - having / drive - driving/ make- making (I know to drop the "e" and add "ing"
Is that rule for all verbs that end in "e"? Are there any exceptions?

What about :
Begin - beginning /get - getting/put - putting
why the last consoant was doubled here?

I need to know all the rules and exceptions for 'ing ( Present continus)
Thank you.

[lotus]

Hi Civasconcelos,

Here is a link to basic guidelines on adding -ing to a verb.
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/gerund.htm


--lotus

[Civasconcelos]

[quote="Civasconcelos"]Hi,

Can someone tell me the actual rule for the following:

have - having / drive - driving/ make- making (I know to drop the "e" and add "ing"
Is that rule for all verbs that end in "e"? Are there any exceptions?

What about :
Begin - beginning /get - getting/put - putting
why the last consoant was doubled here?

I need to know all the rules and exceptions for 'ing ( Present continus)
Thank you.[/quote]

[CP]

I haven't checked Lotus's link yet, but:

Sometimes people write the present participle of "to age" as "ageing" rather than "aging," although I don't think that's correct. There may be others.

I was taught that the doubling of the consonant is done only where the stress is on the syllable with the consonant. So we write "getting" and "beginning," because the stress is on the "get" and the "gin," but we write "kidnaped" and "canceled" because the stress is on the "kid" and the "can" and not on the "nap" or the "cel."

(However, lots of people now spell "kidnaped" as "kidnapped," and "canceled" as "cancelled." This drives me crazy.)
_________________
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[Mary W. Ng]

[CP]

[Mary W. Ng]