present participle
Americannoun
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Grammar. a participle, in English having the suffix -ing, that expresses repetition or duration of an activity or event: used as an adjective, as in the growing weeds and the setting sun, and also in forming progressive verb constructions, as in The weeds are growing and The sun was setting.
noun
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a participial form of verbs used adjectivally when the action it describes is contemporaneous with that of the main verb of a sentence and also used in the formation of certain compound tenses. In English this form ends in -ing Compare gerund
Etymology
Origin of present participle
First recorded in 1700–10
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dederer is continually trying — not in the adjectival sense, but as the present participle: showing us her thought process, correcting as she goes and experimenting with different forms.
From New York Times • Apr. 23, 2023
From that innocent present participle “encouraging” a mighty fountain sprang.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 2, 2019
Mathison and Rylance have more than honored the BFG’s unorthodox yet utterly intuitive way with the English language, particularly his affection for the present participle and his blithe disregard for subject-verb agreement.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2016
One slightly less endearing feature of Dunthorne's contemporary voice, however, is his strict avoidance of the present participle when using the verbs "to stand" or "to sit".
From The Guardian • Jul. 29, 2011
It is the verb vacilar, present participle vacilando.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.