Avoid Malfunctioning: How to Use Gerunds

In advanced English, certain verbs are followed by a second verb in the -ing form (the gerund). In a technical context, this often describes workflows, troubleshooting, or ongoing project management.

Below is a professional development drill designed to sharpen your use of these structures.

Part 1: High-Frequency Verb Patterns

In IT, we frequently use verbs like delay, postpone, consider, risk, suggest, and finish followed by a gerund.

The Rule

When two verbs are joined, the second verb takes the -ing form if the first verb is part of a specific group. Unlike the “to + infinitive” structure (e.g., I want to code), the gerund often implies a process or a general action.

Lead Verb	IT Context Example
Avoid	We should avoid hardcoding credentials in the source files.
Consider	Have you considered migrating the legacy database to the cloud?
Risk	If we push this now, we risk breaking the production environment.
Postpone	The stakeholders decided to postpone launching the new feature.
Involve	This role involves monitoring server health 24/7.

Part 2: The Drill (Advanced)

Rewrite or complete the following sentences using the correct -ing form of the verb in parentheses. Focus on maintaining a professional, “corporate-tech” tone.

(Implement) Our team is currently considering _________ a zero-trust security architecture.
(Upgrade) To maintain compliance, you cannot delay _________ the firmware on these routers any longer.
(Refactor) I suggest _________ this function to improve readability and reduce technical debt.
(Leaking) Failing to rotate these API keys risks _________ sensitive customer data to the public web.
(Scale) Does the current sprint involve _________ our microservices to handle the Black Friday traffic?
(Configure) We finished _________ the CI/CD pipeline late last night.

Part 3: Troubleshooting “Verb + Preposition + -ing”

Many IT-specific phrases use a preposition (like on, about, to) before the second verb. The verb following a preposition must always be in the -ing form.

Focus on: We need to focus on optimizing the frontend latency.
Look forward to: We look forward to integrating your API.
Specialize in: Our consultants specialize in securing Docker containers.

This second drill focuses on Phrasal Verbs and Verb + Preposition combinations. In IT, these are essential for describing specialized tasks, project focus, and technical transitions.

The rule is absolute: Any verb that follows a preposition (in, on, at, to, with, for, about) must use the -ing form.

Part 1: Essential IT Prepositional Patterns

Pattern	Common Technical Usage
Look forward to	Used in emails for upcoming integrations or meetings.
Specialize in	Used to describe a stack, niche, or department’s expertise.
Succeed in	Used when discussing successful deployments or migrations.
Focus on	Used during sprint planning to define priorities.
Commit to	Used when promising a delivery date or a code change.
Be used to	Used to describe familiarity with a legacy system or workflow.

Note: Be careful with the word “to.” In these cases, “to” is a preposition, not part of an infinitive.

Incorrect: I look forward to meet you.

Correct: I look forward to meeting you.

Part 2: The Drill (Prepositional Focus)

Fill in the blanks using the -ing form of the verb provided. Pay close attention to the preposition preceding the blank.

(Automate) Our DevOps team is currently focusing on __________ the regression testing suite.
(Migrate) Management has finally committed to __________ all on-premise workloads to AWS by Q4.
(Troubleshoot) Senior architects specialize in __________ complex concurrency issues that junior devs might miss.
(Deliver) We succeeded in __________ the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) two weeks ahead of schedule.
(Using) Our sysadmins are used to __________ CLI tools rather than GUI interfaces.
(Collaborate) I am really looking forward to __________ with the UX team on the new dashboard design.
(Provision) We have a dedicated script for __________ new virtual machines in the staging area.

Part 3: Challenge—Sentence Transformation

Rewrite the following “clunky” sentences using the prepositional pattern provided in the parentheses.

Example: We want to make the database faster. (Focus on)
Answer: We are focusing on making the database faster.

We managed to fix the memory leak. (Succeed in)
Our team only handles cloud security. (Specialize in)
I am excited to see the new API documentation. (Look forward to)

Part 3

We succeeded in fixing the memory leak.
Our team specializes in handling cloud security.
I look forward to seeing the new API documentation.

This role-play simulates a Daily Standup Meeting. Pay attention to how the “Verb + -ing” patterns create a natural, professional flow when discussing technical blockers and progress.

Scenario: The Sprint Check-in

Characters: * Jordan: Senior Developer

Alex: Project Manager (PM)

Alex (PM): Morning, Jordan. Let’s start with the authentication module. Are we still on track for Friday?

Jordan: Well, we had to postpone running the final load tests yesterday because the staging environment was unstable. However, I’ve succeeded in patching the memory leak we found on Tuesday.

Alex: Good to hear about the patch. Does that mean we can avoid delaying the production push?

Jordan: I think so. Right now, I’m focusing on refactoring the login logic. It’s a bit messy, and I want to risk refactoring it now rather than risk breaking it later when we have more traffic.

Alex: I agree. The stakeholders are really looking forward to seeing the new biometric login feature.

Jordan: Exactly. I also suggested implementing a rate-limiter to prevent brute-force attacks. Our security lead specializes in handling those types of configurations, so she’s helping me out.

Alex: Perfect. Let me know if you finish testing before the end of the day.

Part 1: Quick Analysis

In the dialogue above, identify the phrase that matches these patterns:

Delay/Postpone + -ing: ____________________
Succeed in + -ing: ____________________
Look forward to + -ing: ____________________
Suggest + -ing: ____________________

Part 2: Your Turn (The Output Task)

Imagine you are in a meeting and your boss asks: “Why haven’t we switched to the new cloud provider yet?”

Write three sentences using the patterns we’ve practiced. Try to use:

“Consider…” (To show you thought about it)
“Risk…” (To explain a danger)
“Focus on…” (To explain what you are doing instead)

Here’s a good post on the difference between present participles and gerunds.

Speak Method Pro