Sentence Mechanics: Gerunds after Prepositions and Talking About Abilities
When we talk about our skills, talents, and sports abilities in English, we use special prepositional structures. Phrases like 'good at', 'bad at', and 'great at' are always followed by either a noun or a verb ending in -ing (a gerund). For example: 'I am good at playing squash' or 'She is great at tennis'. Furthermore, we learn how to express preferences using verbs like 'prefer' and 'like', enabling students to describe what they enjoy doing during their leisure and physical education time with complete grammatical accuracy.
📐 The Rule: (Adjective + Preposition) + V-ing / Noun
| Phrase | Structure | Example with V-ing | Example with Noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| good at | good at + [V-ing / Noun] | He is good at swimming. | He is good at football. |
| great at | great at + [V-ing / Noun] | She is great at making salad. | She is great at maths. |
| bad at | bad at + [V-ing / Noun] | I am bad at playing handball. | I am bad at chess. |
⭐ Important Spelling Rules for Adding (-ing):
- Verbs ending in a single
-e: drop theebefore adding-ing(make -> making, ride -> riding). - Short vowel + single consonant: double the consonant (swim -> swimming, run -> running).
- General verbs: simply add
-ing(play -> playing, read -> reading).
Choose the correct verb form: «Mona is great at (draw / drawing / draws) beautiful pictures.»
Answer: drawing (great at is followed by V-ing).
Tap any card to reveal its meaning, or tap the audio icon to listen:
Click on an option to check your answer and view the detailed explanation: