All About 'About'

2021-11-13

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1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher we answer a question from Ygor in Brazil.
    • 2
  • Hello guys!
    • 3
  • My name is Ygor and I'd like to say you all are amazing, fantastic, superb, etc.
    • 4
  • I just love this channel ... but the preposition "about" is just killing me.
    • 5
  • I can't get why sometimes people use "about" followed by "ing" and sometimes followed by an infinitive.
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  • Thanks a lot!
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  • Dear Ygor,
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  • Thank you for your kind words.
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  • You asked an interesting question because there are several uses of about.
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  • The word can be either an adverb or a preposition.
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  • In some cases, it acts as an adjective. Let us look at the adverb form first.
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  • Adverbs describe a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a statement.
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  • When we use "about" as an adverb, it can mean "almost" or "nearly," as in this example:
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  • We are about ready to take a walk.
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  • With numbers, you can use "about" when you are not sure of the exact amount.
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  • We will be gone for about twenty minutes.
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  • 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.
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  • We are about to leave for our walk. Are you coming?
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  • Now, let us think about how "about" works as a preposition.
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  • As you probably know, a preposition shows direction, place, or time, or introduces an object.
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  • Prepositions are used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.
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  • "About" as a preposition indicates the subject of a thought, feeling or action, as in,
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  • Stop shouting about the problem and do something!
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  • When we add "ing" to a verb, we are making it a gerund - which is a word that acts like a noun.
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  • In this statement, a gerund follows "about."
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  • We talked about buying a car.
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  • The gerund, "buying" is the subject of what is being said.
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  • Finally, we can find "about" being used as an adjective, that is, to describe a noun or pronoun.
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  • Here is an example of a feeling many of us have had these days:
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  • After the lockdown, it feels great to be out and about again.
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  • Here, "out and about" means outside of one's home. I hope this helps you use "about" more confidently, Ygor.
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  • What question do you have about American English?
    • 33
  • Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
    • 34
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
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  • I'm Jill Robbins.
    • 1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher we answer a question from Ygor in Brazil.
    • 2
  • Question:
    • 3
  • Hello guys! My name is Ygor 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!
    • 4
  • Ygor, Brazil.
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  • Answer:
    • 6
  • Dear Ygor,
    • 7
  • 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.
    • 8
  • About as an adverb
    • 9
  • 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:
    • 10
  • We are about ready to take a walk.
    • 11
  • With numbers, you can use "about" when you are not sure of the exact amount.
    • 12
  • We will be gone for about twenty minutes.
    • 13
  • 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.
    • 14
  • We are about to leave for our walk. Are you coming?
    • 15
  • About as a preposition
    • 16
  • 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.
    • 17
  • "About" as a preposition indicates the subject of a thought, feeling or action, as in,
    • 18
  • Stop shouting about the problem and do something!
    • 19
  • 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."
    • 20
  • We talked about buying a car.
    • 21
  • The gerund, "buying" is the subject of what is being said.
    • 22
  • About as an adjective
    • 23
  • 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:
    • 24
  • After the lockdown, it feels great to be out and about again.
    • 25
  • Here, "out and about" means outside of one's home. I hope this helps you use "about" more confidently, Ygor.
    • 26
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
    • 27
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
    • 28
  • I'm Jill Robbins.
    • 29
  • Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.
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  • ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________________________________________________________
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  • Words in This Story
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  • confident - adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something
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  • Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.