Why so many –ing nouns (present participles) do not take the definite article “the”?

Question

For example we do not say:

I look forward to the seeing you, or in the doing so.

But sometimes we say:

In the beginning, in the fighting, the ruling, etc.

As such, is there any different rule concerning the –ing nouns or they should follow the same rules as the common nouns do?

Are you sure seeing and doing are nouns in those first examples? I suspect most people will interpret them as verbs. — oerkelens, Jul 07 '15 at 08:43
Right, what oerkelens said. Sometimes -ing forms are verb forms, sometimes they're nouns. Look at their modification, complementation, and inflectional forms to see. — , Jul 07 '15 at 08:45
Note that beginning, fighting, and ruling have their own noun definitions, probably not only in Macmillan Dictionary. -- Also note that look forward to our meeting or look forward to the meeting is surely possible. -- And this is also possible: I'm looking forward to our seeing each other again. — Damkerng T., Jul 07 '15 at 09:31
@oerkelens, I' m not sure but in the sentence: "Seeing is good, doing is bad.", seeing and doing are not subjects and subjects are not nouns? — Lucian Sava, Jul 07 '15 at 09:35
In seeing is good, doing is bad, they are indeed nouns. But there are no articles needed, just as in men are from Mars, women are from Venus. — oerkelens, Jul 07 '15 at 09:42
Thank you @oerkelens, actually this is what I'm asking if they follow the same patterns as the ordinary nouns. — Lucian Sava, Jul 07 '15 at 09:53
Related: “I'm used to him being away ” or “I'm used to his being away”, Gerund or participle?, Which is the correct gerund clause? 'People's killing animals', or 'People killing animals … '?. — Damkerng T., Jul 07 '15 at 10:06
When they are truly used as nouns, they act like other nouns, indeed. But When they are used as verbs they are and behave differently. — oerkelens, Jul 07 '15 at 10:49
@oerkelens, I upvoted your last comment for this is what I actually needed to know. — Lucian Sava, Jul 07 '15 at 14:56

Maulik V · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-07T08:55:03.867

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'seeing' is not a noun there. It's a verb. And due to 'look forward...' pattern, it takes the verb in the form of '-ing'.

I look forward to ~~see~~ seeing you.

Does the question still stand?

edited Jul 07 '15 at 08:55

answered Jul 07 '15 at 08:44

Maulik V

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Thank you! So, when they are nouns, they follow the same patterns as the ordinary nouns, right?-:) – Lucian Sava Jul 07 '15 at 09:59
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Nouns have no pattern! They are the verbs! Stop thinking about 'look forward to', take some other example and it'll be clear. – Maulik V Jul 07 '15 at 10:10

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 07 '15 at 18:07

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Simply because it is shorter, because the article does not achieve much, and because without article the sense is as clear as with article.

answered Jul 07 '15 at 18:07

rogermue

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Why so many –ing nouns (present participles) do not take the definite article “the”?

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