Page 138 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
63 there’s no point in -ing, it’s worth -ing etc.

A We say: there’s no point in
it’s no use doing something
it’s no good

There’s no point in having a car if you never use it.
There was no point in waiting any longer, so we left.
It’s no use worrying about what happened. There’s nothing you can do about it.
It’s no good trying to persuade me. You won’t succeed.
We say ‘no point in …’ but ‘the point of …’ :
There’s no point in having a car.
What’s the point of having a car if you never use it?

B We say: it’s worth
it’s not worth doing something

It’s a nice town. It’s worth spending a few days there.
Our flight was very early in the morning, so it wasn’t worth going to bed.
You can say that something is worth it or not worth it:
You should spend a couple of days here. It’s worth it.
We didn’t go to bed. It wasn’t worth it.
You can also say that something is worth doing, a movie is worth seeing etc. :
It’s a great movie. It’s worth seeing.
Thieves broke into the house, but didn’t take anything. There was nothing worth stealing.
It’s an interesting idea. It’s worth thinking about.

C We say: trouble
have difficulty doing something
a problem

I had no trouble finding a place to stay. (not trouble to find)
Did you have a problem getting a visa?
People sometimes have difficulty reading my writing.

D We say: spend
(time) doing something
waste

He spent hours trying to repair the clock.
I waste a lot of time doing nothing.
We also say ‘(be) busy doing something’:
She said she couldn’t meet me. She was too busy doing other things.

E We use go -ing for sports and other activities. For example:
go sailing go swimming go fishing go riding go hiking
go surfing go scuba diving go skiing go jogging go camping
How often do you go swimming?
We went skiing last year.
Tom isn’t here. He’s gone shopping.
I’ve never been sailing.

126 gone and been … ➜ Unit 7B