The Present Participle of Verbs Ending in -ie

by Maeve Maddox

It’s Spring and I’m busily cruising the gardening sites. This headline grabbed me:

Is your Clematis Wilting? Fading? Dieing? Find out how to rescue it.

English has a handful of common verbs that end in -ie:

die
lie (to recline)
lie (to prevaricate)
tie

The present participles of these verbs are formed by changing the -ie to y and adding -ing:

dying
lying
lying
tying

And yes, my clematis is fading, but so far, not dying.

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Cecily on May 10, 2010 2:51 am

Should we be grateful they got two out of three correct?
sharmin shahrin Ruby on May 14, 2010 3:09 am

i haven’t good writing skills. when i start writing i forget everything.i cant remember anything. i want to develop myself in my workplace. but i think i m very much weak in English language. for this thinking i cant prove myself. i am not so vocal like others and this is very important to compete everywhere. it s very need to speaking and writing fluently in English.
Annie on May 20, 2010 12:37 am

what about verbs ending with “M”…??
hu?
please commentme!!