Coming
verbThe present participle of 'come': moving toward or approaching a place, time, or state.
How to spell coming
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce coming
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does coming mean?
- verbThe present participle of 'come': moving toward or approaching a place, time, or state.
Coming in a sentence
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The guests are coming over for dinner at seven.
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She could hear footsteps coming down the hall.
Where does coming come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This word is the present participle of 'come', which descends from the Old English verb cuman, meaning 'to move toward' or 'to arrive'. That verb traces back to the same ancient Germanic root that produced the German kommen and the Dutch komen, all carrying the basic idea of approaching or reaching a place. The spelling trap lives in the doubling rule: because 'come' ends in a silent 'e', that 'e' is dropped before '-ing' and the single 'm' is kept, giving 'coming' rather than the often-written 'comming'. English doubles a final consonant only after a short stressed vowel with no silent 'e' (as in 'running' from 'run'), and 'come' does not qualify. So the modern form has stayed remarkably stable for over a thousand years, and its one consistent stumbling block remains that lonely single 'm'.
How the word is built
- come (from Old English cuman: to move toward, arrive)
- -ing (present participle/verbal noun suffix)
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