Gerund

T

Taisi

Senior Member

Russian-Russia

I can say "He keeps insisting on doing it", but I can't say "He doing it', though there is an expression "keep". Is it so to avoid tautology in prepositions? The same situation with "go on".

👁 dungeonmarm

dungeonmarm

Member

Arkansas, USA

English - US

"He keeps on insisting on doing it" isn't necessarily incorrect, but it is definitely awkward due to the repetition of "to".

👁 Copyright

Copyright

Member Emeritus

Penang

American English

You can use "He keeps on insisting on doing it," if you like. And you can keep on keeping on. 👁 Smile :)

👁 e2efour

e2efour

Senior Member

England (aged 79)

UK English

You can use on twice, but it is much less common because of the repetition.

Sample sentence from the new iWeb corpus:
"It really beats me why people claiming to be highly concerned about climate change keep on insisting on combating it in the slowest and most expensive way possible."
(from thenergycollective.com)

(cross-posted with dungeonmarm)

T

Taisi

Senior Member

Russian-Russia

Thanks a lot !!!

You must log in or register to reply here.

Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link