VOA慢速英语2021--All About 'About'

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher we answer a question from Ygor in Brazil.

Question:

Hello guys! My name is Ygor and I'd like to say you all are amazing, fantastic, superb¹, etc. I just love this channel ... but the preposition "about" is just killing² me. I can't get why sometimes people use "about" followed by "ing" and sometimes followed by an infinitive³. Thanks a lot!

Ygor, Brazil.

Answer:

Dear Ygor,

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.

About as an adverb

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:

We are about ready to take a walk.

With numbers, you can use "about" when you are not sure of the exact amount.

We will be gone for about twenty minutes.

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.

We are about to leave for our walk. Are you coming?

About as a preposition

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.

"About" as a preposition indicates the subject of a thought, feeling or action, as in,

Stop shouting about the problem and do something!

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."

We talked about buying a car.

The gerund, "buying" is the subject of what is being said.

About as an adjective

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:

After the lockdown, it feels great to be out and about again.

Here, "out and about" means outside of one's home. I hope this helps you use "about" more confidently, Ygor.

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Words in This Story

confident - adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

1 superb   

adj.高贵的，壮丽的，极好的

参考例句：

• The large bay has a superb backdrop of mountains.大海湾背靠着庄严的山脉。
• The hotel has a large dining room serving superb local cuisine.饭店有一个大餐厅供应上好的当地菜肴。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 infinitive   

n.不定词；adj.不定词的

参考例句：

• The use of the split infinitive is now generally acceptable.分裂不定式的用法现在已被广泛接受。
• Modal verbs generally take the bare infinitive.情态动词通常用不带to的不定式。