When these expressions are followed by a verb, the verb ends in -ing:
It's no use /
It's no good ...
- There's nothing you can do about the situation, so it's no use worrying about it.
- It's no good trying to persuade me. You won't succeed.
There's no point in ...
- There's no point in having a car if you never use it .
- There was no point in waiting any longer, so we left.
But we usually say '
the point
of doing something':
- What's the point of having a car if you never use it?
It's (not)
worth ...
- I live only a short walk from here I so it's not worth taking a taxi.
- Our flight was very early in the morning, so it wasn't worth going to bed.
You can say that a film is
worth seeing, a book is
worth reading etc. :
- What was the film like? Was it worth seeing?
- Thieves broke into the house, but didn't take anything. There was nothing worth stealing.
Have trouble -ing, have difficulty -ing etc.
Have
trouble /
difficulty /
a problem doing something:
- I had no trouble finding a place to stay. (not trouble to find)
- Did you have any difficulty getting a visa?
- People sometimes have problems reading my writing.
Spend time / waste time / be busy
spend/
waste (time)
doing something:
- He spent hours trying to repair the clock.
- I waste a lot of time doing nothing.
(be)
busy doing something:
- She said she couldn't see me. She was too busy doing other things.
Go swimming / go fishing etc.
We use
go -
ing for a number of activities (especially sports).
For example, you can say:
- go sailing
- go camping
- go riding
- go swimming
- go surfing
- go hiking
- go fishing
- go scuba diving
- go sightseeing
- go skiing
- go jogging
- go shopping
- How often do you go swimming?
- I'd like to go skiing.
- When was the last time you went shopping?
- I've never been sailing. (For gone and been, see Unit 70.)
