Answering is the present-participle form of the verb answer, meaning to respond or reply to a question or request. It describes the act of giving an answer, often during a conversation, interview, or problem-solving scenario. The word emphasizes the ongoing action of providing a response rather than a finished reply.
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"She was answering the phone when I called."
"The crowd kept cheering while the team was answering questions in the press conference."
"He handed in his assignment and started answering comments from the teacher."
"They are answering the petition online and collecting signatures."
Answering derives from the verb answer, with the -ing suffix creating the present participle / gerund form. The verb answer comes from Old English and is related to the Proto-Germanic *and-swaraną, linked to the concept of giving or supplying a response. The sense of “to respond” broadened in Middle English to include replying to questions, demands, or accusations. The participle form answering appears in Early Modern English as a natural extension of the continuous aspect, used to describe ongoing action (e.g., answering the door, answering the call). Over centuries, answering also took on metaphorical senses (answering a need, answering a call) that emphasize providing a response to a situation or request. The word’s core idea — to provide an answer or response — has remained stable, but usage broadened to encompass both literal verbal replies and figurative resolutions or satisfactions of inquiries. First known uses appear in texts referencing ongoing actions, with the -ing participle becoming common in the 15th-16th centuries as English grammar evolved toward more nuanced verb forms. Modern usage: present participle in continuous tenses, participial adjectives (an answering machine as well as answering questions).
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "answering" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "answering"
-ing sounds
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Pronounce as three syllables: /ˈæn.sɚ.ɪŋ/ in US; /ˈæns.ər.ɪŋ/ in a careful UK reading variant. The primary stress is on the first syllable. Begin with /æ/ as in cat, then /n/ and a light /s/ blend to /sɚ/ (the ‘er’ can be a rhotacized schwa). End with /ɪŋ/. In connected speech, the middle syllable can sound like /ɚ/ (schwa with rhoticity) and the final /ɪŋ/ remains. Visualize your mouth: open wide for /æ/, place tongue high-mid for /ɚ/, and finish with a tip of the tongue touching the alveolar ridge for the /ŋ/. Audio reference: you can compare with recordings on Pronounce or Forvo for native charging/phone contexts.
Two frequent errors: 1) Dropping the middle vowel: saying /ˈænsɪŋ/ or /ˈæn.sɪŋ/—lose the /ɚ/ or /ər/ sound. Correction: keep a light /ɚ/ middle syllable: /ˈæn.sɚ.ɪŋ/. 2) Misplacing stress, sounding like /ˈænsərɪŋ/ with reduced first-stress or flattening to /ænˈsɚɪŋ/. Correction: maintain clear first-syllable stress: /ˈæn.sɚ.ɪŋ/. Also be mindful of the final /ŋ/ nasal; avoid voiceless obstruants preceding it—keep a clean velar nasal. Practice with minimal pairs to sharpen these transitions.
In US English, the second syllable often has a rhotacized /ɚ/, giving /ˈæn.sɚ.ɪŋ/ with clear /æ/ in the first vowel. UK tends toward /ˈæns.ə.rɪŋ/ with less rhoticity in some accents and a shorter /ə/ or /ɜː/ for the second syllable; the /r/ can be less pronounced. Australian tends to unify vowels toward a rounded /æ/ and may reduce the second syllable further, but still preserve /ɪŋ/ at the end. Across dialects, the key differences are rhoticity of the second syllable and vowel quality in the second, with US often rhotic, UK variable, AU non-rhotic or weakly rhotic depending on speaker.
Here the challenge is the multi-syllabic rhythm: three syllables with a fast transition from a stressed /æn/ to a rhotacized /ɚ/ and then a capped /-ɪŋ/. The middle syllable often hesitates due to /ɚ/ blending and the /s/ preceding /ɪŋ/ can cause subtle sibilant shaping. The tongue must move quickly from a front open vowel to a mid-central rhotic vowel, then into a velar nasal. Paying attention to the exact tongue height, lip rounding, and the ventricle flow will help you land the correct sequence.
A distinctive feature is the strong tri-syllabic rhythm in everyday speech, reinforced by a prominent first-syllable stress and a rhotacized mid-syllable in many dialects. The /ɚ/ in the middle can be a bit tricky with non-rhotic accents, where you may hear a breathy or reduced middle vowel. Learners should practice keeping the /æ/ crisp, the /n/ clear, the /s/ clean, and the final /ɪŋ/ steady, ensuring the middle vowel doesn’t collapse into /ə/ or /ɪ/ without the tongue settling.
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