: Re: Why does using this "-ing" verb construction make my writing weaker? I had to write a scholarship essay, wherein I wrote this sentence: Over the ensuing years I read as much as I could,

@Moriarity138

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I have heard on several occasions that it is the gerund that makes the -ing "weak" and should be avoided. The argument, I suppose, is due to the fact that gerunds are inherently imprecise because they have multiple meanings and fit multiple categories. They're verb-like, noun-like, and adjective-like... and present-participles which also use the -ing suffix can act like adverbs and adjectives and are completely different than gerunds. It does seem odd to allow -ing to be a past-tense gerund while simultaneously saying only present-participles have -ing (past-participles are -ed, -en, and similar).

In reality I suspect they hate gerunds because it makes it difficult for them to map a sentence they can understand the meaning of so easily.

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