The many ways 鈥�-ing鈥� makes a word
A reader recently asked why a building is called a building. The answer has to do with the great variety of functions that '-ing' performs in modern English.
A reader recently asked why a building is called a building. The answer has to do with the great variety of functions that '-ing' performs in modern English.
A reader recently asked why a building is called a building. Given that the construction is finished, why don鈥檛 we call it a builded or a built? The answer has to do with the great variety of functions that 鈥�-ing鈥� performs in modern English.
First of all, 鈥�-ing鈥� forms the present participle of verbs. This participle is used in the present continuous tense to describe ongoing action. 鈥淗e is building the wall鈥� means he is still in the process; the wall is not finished. Present participles can also be adjectives: 鈥渢he running water,鈥� 鈥渢he perspiring tourist.鈥� These adjectives, too, imply that the action is ongoing and incomplete 鈥� the tourist is sweating in perpetuity.
Adding 鈥�-ing鈥� also produces the gerund, which, you might remember, is a noun formed from a verb. 鈥淪inging is fun鈥� 鈥� 鈥渟inging鈥� is a gerund, the subject of the sentence. 鈥淏uilding card towers quickly is my passion鈥� 鈥� 鈥渂uilding鈥� is a gerund. As we can see from the previous sentence, gerunds still evince some characteristics of verbs, taking direct objects (鈥渃ard towers鈥�) and being modified by adverbs (鈥渜uickly鈥�), not adjectives, as most nouns are. Like the present participle, the gerund also implies that an action is continuing, without an endpoint.
Building, in the sense of 鈥淪he designed a beautiful building,鈥� is neither a participle nor a gerund, but the sense of ongoing, incomplete action influences our attitudes to the word.聽
Building in our sense is a verbal noun (sometimes, confusingly, also called a deverbal noun), a 鈥渞eal noun,鈥� if you will. In contrast to gerunds, these are modified by adjectives (鈥渢he beautiful building鈥�) and can take the plural (鈥渢he buildings鈥�), just like any other noun.聽
They are most commonly formed from verbs by the addition of a suffix such as 鈥�-ment鈥� (鈥渁n achievement鈥�), 鈥�-ance鈥� (鈥渁 disappearance鈥�), and, in our case, 鈥�-ing鈥� (鈥渁 wedding,鈥� 鈥渁 painting,鈥� and 鈥渁 building鈥�).
This way of using 鈥�-ing鈥� to make verbal nouns is very old; 鈥�-ing鈥� was already producing words in the 8th century. It only took over from 鈥�-ende鈥� and 鈥�-inde鈥� as the standard form of the present participle in the 14th century, and gained the flexibility to combine with nearly all verbs to make gerunds around the same time. The first 鈥�-ing鈥� words, then, were not burdened with the participial and gerundial baggage of ongoing or continuous action.
In fact, early on, 鈥�-ing鈥� was actually used to make words that carry a sense of completion, that, as the Oxford English Dictionary explains, 鈥渆xpress a completed action.鈥澛�
A building, then, doesn鈥檛 need to be a built. The 鈥�-ing鈥� suffix itself implies that it is finished. We just don鈥檛 realize it today, after centuries of influence from those pervasive competing 鈥�-ing鈥� forms, the present participle and gerund.