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Daniel salas Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Adj. with ing.help please

so i have a problem with the verbs that are transform in adjectives....such as rocking chair ,and sleeping bag,or speaking book....i know that the first two are for use rocking chair ,for ex. is a chair that is for rocking but in spanish speakers in tends to confuse because you tend to think that the chair is rocking itself i mean the chair is rocking itself ,same thing happens if i say a watching tv for example it sounds as if the tv was the one that is watching , it's kind of difficult to explain this ,for example a speaking book sounds like a book that speaks, but the books cant talk so i can assume that is a book for speaking skills.
My question is how can i recognize and build a modifier knowing that is right ...for example if i want to say a tv that is for watching i would say a watching tv? i dont know ,but it sounds like if the tv was the one that is warching and not the one that is for watch or sleeping bag ,i know that is a bag for sleeping but it sounds like if the bag was the one that is sleeping

please help me here im so confused

thanks a lot dan
  

Top answer

Not all adjectives ending in -ing can be used to modify a noun. It's not possible to say a watching TV. It's difficult to know all of the possibilities (though normally a dictionary might help show the when you can and can't use them).

  • Not all adjectives ending in -ing can be used to modify a noun.
  • It's not possible to say a watching TV.
  • It's difficult to know all of the possibilities (though normally a dictionary might help show the when you can and can't use them).
  • Remember that there are two types of -ing forms before nouns: noun-like ING forms ('gerunds') and adjective-like ING forms ('participles).
  • - a waiting room (= a room for waiting - waiting is a gerund, used like a noun) - a waiting train (= a train that is waiting - waiting is a participle, used like an adjective) I know this not a complete answer but it's New Year's eve and I'm in total 'RELAX' mode.
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1 Answers
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Not all adjectives ending in -ing can be used to modify a noun. It's not possible to say a watching TV. It's difficult to know all of the possibilities (though normally a dictionary might help show the when you can and can't use them).

Remember that there are two types of -ing forms before nouns:
noun-like ING forms ('gerunds') and adjective-like ING forms ('participles).
- a

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