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I'm confused about three sentences of v-ing verbs.

I love my cooking fish(Here my is unnecessary?)

Besides I love my feelings(Here is ok, because means something you have got but not an act)

But there are two world in dictionary confuse me:

Greeting: something you say or do to greet people(It is like the example "feeling"?)

Coming: the time when something new begins(It is like the world "cooking" or "swimming"? Because it has some verbal characteristics)

Am I right?

Thanks very much!

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  • None of those is a verb. Those are all nouns. You can't use determiners are -s plural markers on verbs. – tchrist♦ Jul 30 '16 at 15:09
  • So what about coming...And there are some exceptions, "killing" is an act but you can say killings – moyeea Jul 30 '16 at 15:40
  • You might be asking about gerunds, but I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to find out. Try typing "gerund" in the "Search Q&A" box in the black menu bar at the top, and browse the articles that show up. In the mean time, I'm voting to close this question as unclear (if closed, it can be reopened later). Feel free to edit your question to clarify. – Lawrence Jul 30 '16 at 15:42
  • Don‘t close thanks. I'm wondering some meaning in dictionary. Please help me check the sentence: – moyeea Jul 30 '16 at 15:49
  • Reading is good for you(Here it means act) I bought three readings(here refers to books) But what about thanks for your coming(it is an act) and I gave him greetings(here means something like the reading means books?) – moyeea Jul 30 '16 at 15:49
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"I love my cooking fish(Here my is unnecessary?)"

Depending on the intended meaning, yes and no.

You could re-write without 'my' like follows:

I love cooking fish

This means the person simply loves cooking fish (the fish could belong to the person, or the fish may not belong to them).

If you wanted to use 'my' to signify that the fish belonged to the person cooking them you would have to change the word order like this:

I love cooking my fish

"Besides I love my feelings (Here is ok, because means something you have got but not an act)"

As this stands it does not make sense. If it was part of some other sentence you could re-write it like this:

Besides, I love my feelings.

The word 'besides' is standing in relationship to something else, like this

Y besides X ,

e.g. I don't go the gym, besides, I don't need to I'm not unfit.

Here we are using besides as a preposition, where it means 'over and above'

But there are two [words] in dictionary confuse me: Greeting: something you say or do to greet people(It is like the example "feeling"?)

It could be or it may not be. It depends if you use it as a noun or a verb.

'A greeting from an old friend' here it is a noun. So similar in use to the 'my feelings' example.

'I am greeting a friend' here it is a verb.

Coming: the time when something new begins(It is like the word "cooking" or "swimming"? Because it has some verbal characteristics)

It entirely depends on how you are using the words.

In the sentence "I am coming home" the word coming is similar to swimming "I am swimming" in the type of word it is.

It is something you are doing, a verb.

The verb is 'come' but when you use it like you have here, ending in 'ing' you are using the present continuous tense.

This means you are doing something now, in this moment.

Cook --> Cooking

Feel --> Feeling

Greet --> Greeting

You can cook something. You can feel an emotion.
You can greet someone.

You can cook something 'now' - in which case you are 'cooking something' You can feel something 'now' - in which case you are 'feeling something' You can greet someone 'now' - in which case you are 'greeting someone'

As a general rule of thumb, when you see a word ending in 'ing' you can think 'this is happening now' there are exceptions of course, but hopefully that helps.

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  • Thanks a lot. I have seen a grammar book. They call them resultative noun. Like writing(something you have written) Reading (books) Greeting(something you say or do) Dealing(business activity you have done or business relations) But coming swimming is quite different right? – moyeea Jul 30 '16 at 16:50
  • Happening now. No. Consider deleting or changing this. You can't tell what a word ending in -ing means without the context. If it's used as a noun or participle, it doesn't carry tense at all. If it's used as part of a predicate, it carries the aspect of continuing or repeated action, completed, ongoing, or contemplated. And then there's sibling. – deadrat Jul 31 '16 at 4:38

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