In the English language, putting two -ing words together often is not only natural but correct.

Listen to an example:

I've been avoiding going to the doctor.

In today's Everyday Grammar, we will look at examples of when two or more -ing words appear next to each other.

What's the present participle?

To understand why two -ing words can appear in a row in English, you must first understand the present participle.

Everyday Grammar: Thinking About Using -ing Words?

A present participle is a word that is formed from a verb and ends in -ing. For example, the present participle of the verb to avoid is avoiding.

The present participle is used with the verb to be to form the continuous tenses. For instance, a few continuous tenses of to avoid include are avoiding, was avoiding and has or have been avoiding.

But, the present participle can also act as a gerund or an adjective. Consider the verb to sing. The present participle is singing.

Listen to an example of singing as a gerund:

Singing is my favorite activity.

As an adjective:

The singing man was happy.

And as part of a continuous verb tense:

The man was singing in the rain.