§ 2. The ing-form as predicative is usually used after the link-verbs to be, to mean and to look and has appositive meaning.
e.g. The important part is helping people so that they can live normal lives.
I can't ask him for help. That would mean telling him everything about you and myself.
The ing-form as predicative is often preceded by like. It also has appositive meaning here, but the explanation is made by way of comparison.
e.g. To read his novels was like swimming in a lake so clear that you could see the bottom.
At the time their quarrel looked like going on for ever.
Andrew looked like a small boy being teased.
Instances of the ing-form as predicative are scarce.
Note. The ing-form as predicative is sometimes adjectivized.
e.g. That must be enormously exciting.
The journey was slow, rough and tiring and took us eleven days.
Hugh's tone got more and more insulting.
If the ing-form, were not adjectivized it would be taken for a continuous form.
e.g. The quarrel ought to be stopped. They are insulting each other.
The ing-form as Predicate
§ 3. The ing-iorm, as predicate is restricted to two sentence patterns:
interrogative sentences beginning with what about and how about and implying suggestion,
e.g. What about going to London?
How about seeing what they are doing now?
exclamatory sentences expressing indignation,
e.g. But letting him do it!
Sentences of both kinds are quite common in spoken English.
The ing-form as Part of a Compound Verbal Predicate
§ 4. The ing form is lexically dependent in this function — it is used after a number of verbs denoting motion or position. They are: to come, to disappear, to go, to go out (round, around, about), to lie, to sit, to sit around (round), to stand, to stand around (round).
e.g. They came rushing in, laughing.
They had often gone fishing in those days.
Are we going out dancing tonight?
He went about sniffing the air but there was no trace of gas.
They all sat around feeling very proud.
"I'm ready," he said to Maurice and stood waiting.
Next morning I woke early and lay listening to the clatter of dishes in the kitchen.
He disappeared walking, there was no noise, nothing.
The two verbs of the combination form a close sense-unit. The first component has a weakened meaning and mainly serves as a finite verb, while the meaning of the ing-form is quite prominent and determines the meaning of the whole combination.
e.g. In that mood I entered the bedroom, where Sheila was lying reading, her book near the bedside lamp.
Sometimes she fell into despondency and sat doing nothing at all, neither reading nor sewing for half an hour at a time.
Note. Note the following set phrases:
e.g. I burst out laughing, and the others followed. All at once she burst out crying.
