ING, not Chinese!

Words that look like verbs, but end in -ing in English play special roles. Indo-European Languages have words that function in similar positions within them. Here is one of the simplist presentations of the matter from the FSI (Foreign Service Institute - the old name for the Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Montery) handbook for Swedish. I hope this clears up the Chinese influence in English up for you ;-)

1. Gerund - an English verb with an -ing ending and with the function of a noun.
   ................Swimming is my favorite sport.
   ................I'm tired of running.
2. Participle - English has two participial forms: the present participle which ends in -ing and the past participle which ends in -ed, or sometimes -en, -n, etc. These are used in forming complex verb phrases, such as I am working; I have worked.
   
   Apart from their use in forming complex verb phrases, participles are also used as adjectives.
   ................A crying baby
   ................A closed door