Failing and fails

Question

Hi I am a bit confusedSomeone fails an exam is .......Someone fails at school is .......Someone failing college is .......Someone failing to keep a promise is .......Someone is failing me.Someone is failing in school.So I reckon the forms are fails/failing/is failing + noun or prepositionand I know "fails" is verb for 3rd person and "is failing" is verb in continuous tensebut what I about "failing" just by itself? Is it still a verb? or noun? or adjective? or just plain incorrect to say?thank you

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

AnonymousHi I am a bit confused
Someone fails an exam is ..
Someone fails at school is ..
Someone failing college is ..
Someone failing to keep a promise is ..
Someone is failing me.
Someone is failing in school.

So I reckon the forms are fails/failing/is failing + noun or preposition
and I know "fails" is verb for 3rd person and "is failing" is verb in continuous tense
but what I about "failing" just by itself? Is it still a verb? or noun? or adjective? or just plain incorrect to say?

thank you

Hi,

It's a present participle which replaces a relative pronoun + verb:

Someone failing college is .. = Someone who fails/failed collage is...

Someone failing to keep a promise is .. = Somone who fails/failed to keep promise is...

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The verb+ing form is called the present participle. It can be used in three ways:

1) As part of the continuous tenses

2) a modifier of a noun or pronoun

3) As a noun.

Someone fails an exam is .. incorrect.

Someone who fails an exam is an unprepared student.

Someone fails at school is .. incorrect.

Someone failing college is .. correct. The participial phrase "failing college" modifies the pronoun "someone"

Someone failing to keep a promise is .. correct.

Someone is failing me. correct. The verb is "is failing." It is the main verb in the sentence.

Someone is failing in school. correct.

You did not give any example of "failing" as a noun. Here are two examples:

He was punished for failing the exam. (object of preposition)

Failing college is not good. (subject)

Here is one more - failing as an adjective:

He got a failing grade on the test.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymouswhat about "failing" just by itself?

This sentence

Someone who is failing at school is not doing well.

can be reduced to this sentence by removing 'who is'

Someone failing at school is not doing well.

Similarly,

Please present your tickets to the person who is standing at the door.

Please present your tickets to the person standing at the door.

Two men who were wearing blue suits were just here asking for you.

Two men wearing blue suits were just here asking for you.

The girl who is winning the race is my niece.

The girl winning the race is my niece.

_________________________________________________

The same cannot be done if there is no -ing.

The sentence

Someone who fails at school is not doing well.

cannot be reduced to this sentence by removing 'who'

*Someone fails at school is not doing well. < Wrong!

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Hi I am the TC

Thank you all for your informative inputs, I am almost there, just a few bit more to clear things out.

When AlpheccaStars and CalifJim said

Someone fails an exam is .. incorrect

I dont quite get it. It is in its most basic form subject + verb + object. Why is it not correct?

Is it because of the "is" in the middle? So "Someone fails an exam." is correct?

Then Anonymous said

Someone failing college is .. = Someone who fails/failed collage is...

while CalifJim said

Someone failing at school is not doing well. = Someone who is failing at school is not doing well.

I am leaning toward CalifJim as -ing comes after "is"

and I liked CalifJim's explaintion more because he is relating something I confused to something I am familiar with.

So the confusing part is people omit "who is", which should have been there to avoid foreign English learners' confusion!

And then I did a bit more searching on the Internet, a webpage said

In formal English, we would use a possessive with the –ing form. In informal English, many people do not.

I'm angry about his missing the meeting.

Do you mind my coming?

What does it mean by many people do not use possessive + -ing in informal English?

And is this possessive + -ing an instantiation of the present participle phase form AlpheccaStars mentioned?

or is it the other way round, "someone + -ing" is one of the "possessive + -ing" forms?

Thank you once again!

Anonymous · Answer

"The same cannot be done if there is no -ing.

The sentence

Someone who fails at school is not doing well.

cannot be reduced to this sentence by removing 'who'"

I agree. It cannot be reduced by removing who. However, who fails can be replaced by present participle failing.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousHi I am the TC
Thank you all for your informative inputs, I am almost there, just a few bit more to clear things out.
When AlpheccaStars and CalifJim said
Someone fails an exam is .. incorrect
I dont quite get it. It is in its most basic form subject + verb + object. Why is it not correct?
Is it because of the "is" in the middle? So "Someone fails an exam." is correct?

A basic sentence has one subject and one verb. Here is your sentence (I completed the predicate)

* Someone fails an exam is sad. (incorrect)

This sentence is wrong because there are two verbs - fails and is.

You can correct it by making two sentences:

Someone fails an exam. He is sad.

Or you can make two clauses:

Someone who fails an exam is sad. (subordinate, relative clause)

Someone fails an exam and he is sad. (two main clauses)

Or you can make a compound verb:

Someone fails an exam and is sad.

You can take the correct sentence (in blue, above), and reduce the subordinate clause (who fails an exam) to the participial phrase, as CJ has explained.

Someone failing an exam is sad.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousAnd then I did a bit more searching on the Internet, a webpage said
In formal English, we would use a possessive with the –ing form. In informal English, many people do not.
* I'm angry about his missing the meeting.
* Do you mind my coming?
What does it mean by many people do not use possessive + -ing in informal English?
And is this possessive + -ing an instantiation of the present participle phase form AlpheccaStars mentioned?
or is it the other way round, "someone + -ing" is one of the "possessive + -ing" forms?
Thank you once again!

The web site is talking about the case (3) in my first reply. It is not using the participle as an adjective, but as a noun. The grammatical name for this form is a gerund.

He smokes cigars. (smoke is a verb)

He is smoking a cigar. (verb: is smoking)

The man who is smoking a cigar is my father. (relative clause, verb: is smoking)

The man smoking a cigar is my father. (participial phrase)

Smoking is bad for your health. (gerund, subject of the sentence)

Will her smoking bother you?

Will my smoking bother you?

(the possessive pronouns, her or my, shows whose smoking I am talking about)

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI did a bit more searching on the Internet, a webpage said ...

What you read on the webpage is not directly related to your original question. That page is saying that there are two ways to indicate the subject of a gerund clause - possessive case or objective case (my or me; his or him; etc.)

Formal: I'm angry about his missing the meeting. / Do you mind my coming?

Informal: I'm angry about him missing the meeting. / Do you mind me coming?

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you AlpheccaStars! It is so much clear now!

So English has these two rules

1. "who is" can be omitted

2. subordinate can be replaced by participial

Then

Someone who is failing at school is ...

is equal to

Someone failing at school is ... (by rule 1)

And

Someone who fails an exam is ...

is equal to

Someone failing an exam is ... (by rule 2)

Wait, then

Someone who is failing = Someone failing = Someone who fails ?

So

who is failing = who fails?

And thanks for CJ's additional information, I would have bumped into that confusion someday (him=his, my=me, I could be safe with her=her though) if it is not you.

Failing and fails

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