English Grammar Drills - Mark Lester 2009

Present participle
8 Basic Verb Forms
Part 2 Verb Phrases

The present participle is also completely regular. It is formed by adding -ing to the base form.

Here are some examples:

Base form   Present participle

be    being

do    doing

go    going

have     having

sing     singing

talk    talking

The rules of spelling sometimes cause the present participle to be spelled differently from the base form. Here are the most common changes:

Final silent e

If the base form ends in a final silent e, the e will drop. For example:

Base form   Present participle

enlarge    enlarging

lose     losing

save     saving

tame     taming

time     timing

use    using

Doubled consonant

If the base ends in a single consonant preceded by a short vowel, the consonant will double. For example:

Base form   Present participle

hit    hitting

hop    hopping

rub    rubbing

run    running

skid    skidding

swim     swimming

Exercise 8.7

Write the present participle form of the following base-form verbs.

Base form   Present participle

range    ranging

1. skip   ...

2. cry

3. desire

4. vote

5. phrase

6. reply

7. spot

8. admit

9. shake

10. care