1.81 used with adjectives

If you want to describe the action expressed by the noun, you can use one or more adjectives or nouns in front of it.

• The fight against reckless driving is directed extremely skilfully.
• Better training is one of the big challenges of the 1990s.
• He called for a national campaign against under-age drinking.

1.82

A small number of '-ing' nouns, most of which refer to sporting or leisure activities, are much more common than their related verbs. In some cases there is at the moment no verb, although it is always possible to invent one. For example, you are more likely to say 'We went caravanning round France' than 'We caravanned round France'.

Here is a list of the commonest of these nouns:

• angling, blackberrying, boating, bowling, canoeing, caravanning, electioneering, hang-gliding, heliskiing, mountaineering, paragliding, shoplifting, sightseeing, skateboarding, snorkelling, surfing, weightlifting, window-shopping, windsurfing, yachting

Although these words are not always associated with a verb, most of them can be used as present participles.

• He fell fully-clothed into the lake while boating with a girl-friend.
• I spent the afternoon window-shopping with Grandma.