2.77 form and meaning

Most of the '-ing' adjectives talked about so far, are related to verbs. Sometimes however, '-ing' adjectives are not related to verbs at all. For example, there is no verb 'to neighbour'.

• Whole families came from neighbouring villages.

Here is a list of '-ing' adjectives which are not related to verbs:

• appetizing, balding, cunning, enterprising, excruciating, impending, neighbouring, scathing, unwitting

2.78

Sometimes, an '-ing' adjective is related to an uncommon use of a verb, or appears to be related to a verb but is not related exactly to any current use. For example, the verb 'haunt' is most commonly used in connection with ghosts, but the adjective 'haunting' is more often used of things such as songs and memories. A haunting tune is a tune you cannot forget.

Here is a list of qualitative '-ing' adjectives which are not related to a common transitive use of a verb:

• becoming, bracing, cutting, dashing, disarming, engaging, fetching, halting, haunting, moving, penetrating, piercing, pressing, promising, rambling, ravishing, retiring, revolting, searching, taxing, trying

Here is a list of classifying '-ing' adjectives which are not related to a common intransitive use of a verb:

• acting, driving, floating, gathering, going, leading, missing, running

2.79

Some adjectives are derived from a verb and a prefix. For example, 'outgoing' is derived from the verb 'go' and the prefix 'out-'. There is no verb 'to outgo'.

• Wouldn't that cause a delay in outgoing mail?

Here is a list of '-ing' adjectives derived from a verb and a prefix:

• forthcoming, incoming, oncoming, ongoing, outgoing, outstanding, overbearing, uplifting, upstanding

2.80

A small group of '-ing' adjectives are used in informal spoken English for emphasis, usually to express disapproval. This use is explained in paragraphs 2.41 to 2.42.

Some compound adjectives (see paragraphs 2.98 to 2.107) end in '-ing'.