232. Verbs with an Object + “-ing”

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A verb inside the object of another verb may need -ing rather than to or that

TYPES OF OBJECT + -ing

Verbs have rules about the grammatical forms that can or must follow their active voice form. Some, like CATEGORIZE, need a following noun with no intervening preposition (= object), while others, like EXIST, must have either a preposition + noun or no following noun at all. Overall, at least twelve different grammatical forms can follow an English verb (see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive). No verbs allow all of them, but many allow two or more.

This post is about verbs whose active form allows or requires a following object (noun or equivalent) combined with a particular type of verb in the “gerund” (-ing or having -ed) form, as in this example:

(a) Exercise can KEEP muscles MOVING freely.

A key feature here is that muscles, the object of the first verb (keep), is also the subject of the -ing one (moving). This is not always the case with objects before -ing but it must be a possibility with a verb in order to classify it as like KEEP. Here is an example where it is absent:

(b) The research ANALYSED markets PAYING particular attention to prices.

Here, the subject of paying is not markets, the object of analysed, but the research, its subject. For discussion of sentences like this, see 101. Add-on Participles.

A further requirement of the -ing verbs in question is that they must be as affected by the meaning of the first verb as its object is. Thus, in sentence (a), moving is as much affected by the meaning of keep as muscles is: it is not “muscles” that must be “kept” but “muscle movement”. Here is an example where this kind of link is absent:

(c) These agencies HELP children LIVING in poverty.

Living (in poverty) here is not affected much by the idea of “help” – the helping applies only to children”. Living is a participle, not a gerund, merely indicating the kind of children being helped (see 52. Participles Placed Just after their Noun). Any noun can be “postmodified” in this way (see 253. Descriptive Wording after Nouns 2, #1). Hence, nouns in the object position with this kind of following -ing do not confirm that the verb before them is of the relevant kind.

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OTHER VERB FORMS AFTER A VERB + OBJECT

A major reason for actually listing verbs like KEEP is that the above criteria are still insufficient for recognising them: there are many verbs that meet the same criteria but require a different form than -ing after their object. This is the case, for example, with HELP, the verb in (c). The verb form after an object of HELP that acts like the relevant  -ing type is the to (infinitive):

(d) Agencies ARE HELPING children to live healthily.

For more verbs like HELP, see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive.

Another common link type is a preposition + -ing. For example, to live in (d) could be replaced by with living. For more about verbs with this linking method, see 123. Prepositional Verbs Containing a Noun. 

Other verbs need a conjunction to make a noun after them the subject of a following verb – usually that (e.g. said that X would…). For extensive examples, see 150. Verb Choices with Reported Speech. Some verbs even allow different possibilities for different meanings. For example, TELL (somebody) means “order” before infinitive verbs and “advise” before that… (see 217. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 1, #).

The consequence of such variation is that using the object + -ing structure correctly necessitates knowing which verbs allow it. It is assisting this that is the primary objective here. Below is a large sample of relevant verbs, plus some attempted classifications that might help them to be remembered.

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VERBS ALLOWING AN OBJECT + -ing

To say that some verbs “allow” a following object + -ing is not to say that there is always a free choice about having it. Rather, these verbs need it in particular circumstances and cannot have it in others (see 321. Types of “-ing” Verb after a Verb, #4).

The verbs can be grouped according to the particular circumstance where they need an object + -ing.

1. Verbs Necessitating -ing with Particular Object Types

Consider this:

(e) Caesar foresaw his enemies… .

More words must be added here, typically with an -ing verb such as resisting… or having prepared… (see 267. Participles and Gerunds with “Having”), though to be…+ complement is an alternative. Even if an -ing verb’s meaning is obvious from the context of (e), the verb must still be either present itself or represented by doing so.

Yet if the object his enemies is changed to one representing or implying an action or state, such as resistance or difficulty, no further words are grammatically necessary. In general, FORESEE is a verb that usually needs -ing after objects not representing an action or state.

Other verbs with this need for an object noun before -ing include FORECAST, HOPE FOR, LONG FOR, PREDICT and WARN OF.

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2. Verbs Necessitating -ing when Changing their Meaning

Some verbs need an object + -ing when they have one meaning but not another. FIND with an object + -ing suggests non-purposeful discovery (…found prices rising), but with just an object or object + to verb the discovery is purposeful (…found poverty to be widespread).

DISCOVER with an object + -ing means “accidentally encounter” but with just an object or object + to be it means “come to know” (…discovered x to be 12).

LEAVE with an object + -ing means either “depart from” or “cause to be in a particular condition” (left the village grieving), but with to after an object it means “allow without interfering”.

DEMONSTRATE and SHOW with an object + -ing mean “present” (…showed the machine shaping metal) but with an object + to be or to have mean “prove” (…showed the machine to be effective: see 208 Verbs with an Object + Infinitive, #10).

KEEP with an object + -ing means “maintain” but with just an object means “store” or “preserve”.

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3. Verbs Necessitating -ing meaning “ongoing”

In this case, the relevant meaning belongs to the -ing verb itself. An example is:

(f) Consumers like sellers offering bargains.

Using -ing here draws attention to its verb’s action through time. Using an infinitive (to offer), by contrast, would present the action as more instantaneous. This is a similar choice to that possible after some adjectives, as in it is enjoyable… (see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “it”), or X is happy… (see 203. Expanding an Adjective with Words after it).

Most verbs allowing this kind of -ing after their object have one of three general meanings. LIKE is a like/dislike verb. Similar are LONG FOR, LOVE, PREFER, WANT, YEARN FOR and HATE. However, not all like/ dislike verbs allow the to/-ing choice: only -ing is possible after APPRECIATE, APPROVE OF, DISLIKE, ENJOY, WELCOME, ABHOR, DETEST, DISAGREE WITH and LOATH (see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1, #b). Underlined verbs in both lists can also link with it that… (see 190. Special Uses of “it”, #4).

The second common general meaning of verbs allowing the infinitive/-ing choice is sensation. Relevant verbs are FEEL, HEAR, LISTEN TO, NOTICE, SEE, SENSE, SMELL and WATCH. With these, the choice is better said to involve an “infinitive” than a to verb because to must be dropped (see 148. Infinitive Verbs without “to”, #2). The third common general meaning is dependency, with verbs like COUNT ON, DEPEND ON, NEED, RELY ON and REQUIRE. Outside of the three areas, HAVE meaning “cause” also allows the -ing/infinitive choice, the latter again without to (see the end of 116. Rarer Uses of HAVE).

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4. Verbs Necessitating -ing to Make their Object More Precise

With many verbs, a gerund after their object is optional, and clarifies rather than changes meaning. Consider this:

(g) Economists study consumers.

Here, an -ing gerund could optionally follow consumers – e.g. …purchasing goods – thereby making the focus of study more precise. Since -ing participles can also follow objects, as in sentence (c), double meanings are possible, especially with -ing verbs representing a long-term situation, like LIVE or SUFFER, rather than a temporary activity like PURCHASE (see 257. Structures with a Double Meaning 4, #2).

Other verbs like STUDY include the like/dislike ones above that disallow the infinitive – such as ENJOY – plus ACCEPT, AVOID, CATCH (= observe … acting secretly), ENDURE, ENTAIL, FILM, FORGET, HINDER, IMAGINE, INVOLVE, MEAN (= entail), (NOT) MIND, MODEL, NECESSITATE, PHOTOGRAPH, RECORD, REMEMBER, RISK, STUDY, THINK OF (= picture) and TRACK.

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VERBS ALLOWING A POSSESSIVE BEFORE -ing

Some of the verbs listed above allow a possessive instead of object before -ing. Sentence (f), for example, can be reworded:

(h) Consumers LIKE sellers’ offering bargains.

Verbs allowing a possessive include the above-listed like/dislike and cause-effect ones, plus (NOT) AFFORD, APPRECIATE, AVOID, ENTAIL, FACILITATE, FORGET, INVOLVE, MEAN (= entail), (NOT) MIND, NECESSITATE, REGRET, REMEMBER, RESENT, RISK, STOP and UNDERSTAND. One verb type that cannot have a possessive is sense verbs.

There are also some verbs that always need a possessive rather than object before –ing, e.g. ASSIST, ENSURE, and REQUIRE.

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PRACTICE EXERCISE: VERB + OBJECT + “-ing”

To develop appreciation of verbs usable with an object + -ing, consider in each case below which of the suggested possibilities fit grammatically (even with strange meaning) into the blank space. Multiple answers are possible..

1. Runners falling behind soon … their hopes of victory slipping away.
(a) KNEW   (b) SAW   (c) ANTICIPATED   (d) ENDURED

2. Uncertainties about a product’s availability can easily … supplies running short.
(a) LEAD TO   (b) MAKE   (c) ENTAIL   (d) CREATE

3. The Government … the economy expanding in the longer term.
(a) WANT   (b) WILL HAVE   (c) EXPECT   (d) PREDICT

4. Can you … everyone treating others with respect?
(a) IMAGINE   (b) BELIEVE   (c) UNDERSTAND   (d) STOP

5. Language learners should … vocabulary being forgotten.
(a)  ACCEPT  (b) MIND   (c) REGRET   (d) PREVENT

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Answers

1 (b), (c), (d);   2 (a), (c);   3 (a), (b);   4 (a), (c), (d);   5. (a), (b), (c), (d).