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Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher we answer a question from Gyor in Brazil.
Question:
Hello guys! My name is Gyor and I’d like to say you all are amazing, fantastic, superb, etc. I just love this
channel … but the preposition “about” is just killing me. I can’t get why sometimes people use “about”
followed by “ing” and sometimes followed by an infinitive. Thanks a lot!
Gyor, Brazil.
Answer:
Dear Gyor,
Thank you for your kind words. You asked an interesting question because there are several uses of about.
The word can be either an adverb or a preposition. In some cases, it acts as an adjective. Let us look at the
adverb form first.
About as an adverb
Adverbs describe a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a statement. When we use “about” as an adverb, it
can mean “almost” or “nearly,” as in this example:
And here is the point where you will hear an infinitive verb with “to” after “about” when the adverb means
you are very close to doing something.
We are about to leave for our walk. Are you coming?
About as a preposition
Now, let us think about how “about” works as a preposition. As you probably know, a preposition shows
direction, place, or time, or introduces an object. Prepositions are used with a noun, pronoun, or noun
phrase.
When we add “ing” to a verb, we are making it a gerund – which is a word that acts like a noun. In this
statement, a gerund follows “about.”
About as an adjective
Finally, we can find “about” being used as an adjective, that is, to describe a noun or pronoun. Here is an
example of a feeling many of us have had these days:
Here, “out and about” means outside of one’s home. I hope this helps you use “about” more confidently,
Gyor.