Page 147 - Oxford_English_Grammar_Course_Basic_2015

preposition + ...ing Thank you for coming.

After prepositions, we use -ing forms of verbs.

The children are tired of going to the same place every summer. (NOT ... are tired of-to go to ...)
She spoke for an hour without using notes. (NOT... without to use...)
Thank you for coming. I worry about spending too much money.
We're thinking of going to Jamaica for Christmas.

-» For spelling of -ing forms, see page 23.

Put the beginnings and ends together.

0 Every morning, my dad worries about A being late for his train.

1 Please don't leave without B watering my garden while I'm on holiday........
2 1don't like the idea of C telling me that you're going........

3 Are you interested in D going to Vienna with us next weekend?......

4 I'll pay you for E working all my life........

5 1never get tired of F being able to fly........

6 Thank you very much for G selling his house........
7 My brother's thinking of H drinking lots of coffee........

8 1can't work without 1 reading........
9 Sometimes 1dream of J babysitting........

^ Add -ing forms of the verbs in the box.

ask b e / close get go hear ski smoke wash watch work

► Alice dreams of an opera singer, but she can't sing very well.

1 I'm tired o f................................... the same old stories; doesn't John realise he's boring us?

2 Which British Prime Minister was famous fo r................................... big cigars?
3 I'm thinking o f................................... to Greece next summer - have you ever been there?
4 Eric's interested in ..................................football on television, but not in playing it.

5 Don't worry about..................................the dishes - I'll wash them in the morning.
6 She ran out without................................... the door.
7 They didn't pay me much fo r................................... in their garden.
8 Jessica and Rob are talking about..................................married.
9 I'm not very good a t.................................. but I like it.
10 She took my bike without..................................

People talking without speaking,

People hearing without listening,...
‘Pools,’said I, ‘You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows!

(from 'Sound of Silence', song by Paul Simon)

132 INFINITIVES AND -ING FORMS