Like / Love / Hate + -ing

Hook

How do you say you enjoy something, or really don’t? “I like swim” sounds wrong to English ears. After like, love, hate and enjoy, English uses a special verb form: the -ing form.

Notice

  • I like reading books.
  • She loves dancing.
  • We hate cleaning the house.
  • He enjoys cooking for his friends.
  • I don’t mind washing the dishes.
  • Do you like cooking? — Yes, I love it!

What do all the verbs after like, love, hate end with?

Rule

like / love / hate / enjoy / don’t mind + verb-ing

♥♥ love · ♥ like · 😐 don’t mind · ✗ don’t like · ✗✗ hate

-ing spelling:

  • most verbs + ing: read → reading, play → playing
  • ending in -e: drop the e: dance → dancing, write → writing
  • short verb, one vowel + one consonant: double it: swim → swimming, run → running, shop → shopping

Remember the -s on the first verb with he/she/it: She likes swimming. He loves painting.

Questions: Do you like…ing? — Yes, I do. / No, I don’t. · What do you like doing?

Watch Out

  • ✗ I like swim. → ✓ I like swimming.
  • ✗ She like reading. → ✓ She likes reading. (he/she + s)
  • ✗ I enjoy to cook. → ✓ I enjoy cooking. (enjoy + -ing only)
  • ✗ swiming / danceing → ✓ swimming / dancing (spelling)

Practice

  1. Complete: I like ___ (read) books.
  2. Complete: She loves ___ (swim).
  3. Complete: He ___ (hate) cooking.
  4. Correct it: “I like to swimming.”
  5. Spell: run + ing
  6. Spell: write + ing
  7. Complete: “Do you enjoy ___ (travel)?”
  8. Ask about free-time likes (What / you / like / do).
Show the answers
  1. reading
  2. swimming
  3. hates
  4. I like swimming.
  5. running
  6. writing
  7. travelling (US: traveling)
  8. What do you like doing?

Your Turn

Write one true sentence for each: something you love doing, like doing, don’t mind doing and hate doing. Then write two sentences about a friend (My friend loves…).

Connect

Practise -ing spellings like swimming and dancing in our Spelling Quiz.

Try our Spelling Quiz →

Our Grammar Quiz has A1 questions on like/love + -ing.

Try our Grammar Quiz →

CEFR A1 — Spoken Production: I can describe my likes and dislikes about everyday activities.

Azizul Hakim
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