Doing as an Action Object

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to...

• Explain when doing names an action as the object of a technical sentence.

• Rewrite literal sentences like discuss to split into natural engineering English.

• Choose between a clear doing sentence and a sentence that should wait for a future to do pattern.

Idea in one sentence: Use doing when the action is the thing you are discussing, delaying, considering, testing, or avoiding.

Core Insight

English often treats an action like a technical object.

That sounds abstract, so start with a normal pull request comment:

We discussed splitting the table.

The word splitting is an action. Someone may later split the table. But in this sentence, the team is not doing the split yet. The team is talking about the action as the topic of discussion.

That is the first useful model in this track:

doing = the action as a thing in the sentence

This pattern is common in engineering work because teams often discuss, delay, test, avoid, finish, or consider actions before doing them.

We discussed splitting the table.
We delayed deploying the worker.
We considered caching the response.
We avoided changing production during the incident.

In each sentence, the doing phrase is not the next step. It is the action being discussed, delayed, considered, or avoided.

The next lesson will teach the other core shape: to do as a goal or next step. For now, keep one question in mind:

Is the second action the object of the sentence, or is it the goal?

The Small Situation

Imagine a backend team working on a large events table.

The table is growing. Queries are getting slower. A developer opens a pull request with a small plan:

Split the events table into monthly partitions.

Before anyone makes the change, the team talks in the pull request thread.

One engineer writes:

We discussed to split the table.

Most readers will understand the idea. But the sentence feels translated. It also hides the relation between the two actions.

The team did one action:

discussed

The thing they discussed was another action:

splitting the table

So the natural sentence is:

We discussed splitting the table.

The grammar is doing useful technical work. It tells the reader that splitting was the topic, not yet the decision.

The Naive Idea

The naive idea is:

After a verb, use to + verb.

That idea works in some sentences:

We plan to split the table.
We need to update the migration.
We decided to delay the deploy.

Those sentences point toward a goal, need, plan, or decision. Lesson 002 will focus on that.

But the same idea breaks with verbs like discuss, avoid, delay, finish, consider, and suggest.

Awkward:
We discussed to split the table.

Natural:
We discussed splitting the table.

Why? Because discuss needs a topic. The topic can be a noun:

We discussed the table split.

Or the topic can be an action:

We discussed splitting the table.

That second version is often clearer because it keeps the action visible.

The Pattern

Plain meaning:

Doing lets an action behave like an object.

In this scenario:

splitting the table is the thing the team discussed.

Technical name:

This is a gerund phrase. You do not need the label every time, but the label is useful when you compare patterns:

gerund phrase = verb + ing used like a noun

The important part is not the label. The important part is the job.

Ask:

What is the main verb?
What action is the object of that verb?

For the sentence:

We discussed splitting the table.

the answer is:

That table is a small trace. It makes the hidden structure visible.

The sentence is not saying:

We split the table.

It is saying:

The table split was the topic of discussion.

That difference matters in status updates. A reader should not think the work is done when the team only discussed it.

One Pattern, Several Engineering Jobs

The same doing shape appears in many useful technical sentences.

The verb before it tells you the job.

This table matters because a learner often sees doing and tries to translate it as a time form:

Is the team splitting the table now?
Is the worker deploying now?
Is someone caching the response now?

Those are reasonable questions, but they are not the right questions here.

In this pattern, first look left.

The word before the doing phrase usually tells you the relation:

discussed splitting = splitting is the topic
delayed deploying = deploying is postponed
considered caching = caching is an option
avoided changing = changing is the risk avoided
finished backfilling = backfilling is completed work

That makes the sentence easier to review. You do not have to memorize every possible verb. You can ask what the first verb does to the second action.

This is also why technical examples are better than generic examples here. In engineering work, the second action often carries real risk:

deploying the worker
changing production
dropping the column
restarting the service
clearing the cache

If the pattern is wrong, the risk can sound like a plan, a result, or a vague idea. If the pattern is right, the reader can see whether the action is only being discussed, already finished, postponed, suggested, or avoided.

A Worked Rewrite

Let us rewrite a short pull request thread.

The original comment is understandable but unnatural:

We discussed to split the table, but we delayed to change the migration because the backfill is still running.

There are two main actions:

1. The team discussed something.
2. The team delayed something.

Both main verbs treat the second action as their object.

Now the sentence becomes:

We discussed splitting the table, but we delayed changing the migration because the backfill is still running.

This is more natural, but it may still be too long. In technical writing, one long correct sentence can still be hard to scan.

Split it:

We discussed splitting the table.
We delayed changing the migration because the backfill is still running.

Now the reader can see both actions.

Input:

literal translation with `to`

Transition:

find the main verb: discussed, delayed

Intermediate state:

ask what action is the object of that verb

Output:

use `doing`: discussed splitting, delayed changing

Naive failure contrast:

`discussed to split` sounds like the team already chose a goal.
`discussed splitting` keeps the action as the topic.

A Small Repair Checklist

When a sentence feels translated, do not repair it by making it longer first.

Repair the relation between the two verbs.

Use this checklist:

1. Find the first real verb.
2. Ask what action comes after it.
3. Ask whether that later action is the object, the goal, or the result.
4. If it is the object, try doing.
5. Read the sentence again and check whether the technical meaning changed.

Example:

Literal:
We considered to move the cache closer to users.

Step 1:

first real verb = considered

Step 2:

later action = move the cache closer to users

Step 3:

Is moving the cache a goal already?
No. It is an option under evaluation.

Step 4:

Natural:
We considered moving the cache closer to users.

Step 5:

Meaning check:
The team evaluated the option. The sentence does not say the team decided to do it.

Now compare it with a real goal sentence:

We decided to move the cache closer to users.

The grammar changed because the decision changed. Considered moving is evaluation. Decided to move is commitment.

That is the core contrast this track will keep reusing.

Common Confusions

Confusion: Doing always means the action is happening now

Why it is tempting:

In the previous track, forms like is deploying showed work in progress.

Better model:

Doing can have different jobs. In this lesson, doing names an action as an object.

Work in progress:
The team is splitting the table.

Action as object:
The team discussed splitting the table.

The same -ing shape appears in both sentences. The main verb decides the job.

Confusion: A noun is always clearer than a doing phrase

Why it is tempting:

Technical writing often benefits from visible nouns.

Better model:

Use a noun when the noun is established. Use a doing phrase when the action itself should stay visible.

Clear if everyone knows the plan:
We discussed the partitioning plan.

Clearer when the action matters:
We discussed splitting the table into monthly partitions.

Trade-offs and Limits

The trade-off is precision versus pattern memory.

This pattern helps when the reader needs to know that an action is the topic, not the result.

It makes short engineering sentences more precise:

We discussed splitting the table.
We avoided changing production.
We finished backfilling the migration table.

But it costs a little attention because doing has several jobs in English. The reader may need the main verb to understand the role.

It does not solve every second-verb problem. Some verbs naturally take to do:

We agreed to split the table.
We plan to split the table.
We need to split the table.

Those sentences point to a goal or commitment. That is the next lesson.

You can see the boundary when replacing doing with to do changes the meaning:

We discussed splitting the table.
We agreed to split the table.

The first sentence says the action was a topic. The second says the action became a decision.

There is another limit: some verbs can take both patterns, but the meaning changes.

You will see that later with try:

Try increasing the timeout.
Try to increase the timeout.

The first sentence suggests an experiment. The second sentence says to make an attempt. The words are close, but the engineering advice is different.

So do not turn this lesson into a universal rule like:

Always use doing after the first verb.

Use the better rule:

Use doing when the second action is acting like the object of the first verb.

Check Your Understanding

Check: Which sentence means the split was only a topic of conversation?

A. We discussed splitting the table. B. We agreed to split the table.

Think first, then reveal.

Answer: A. Discussed splitting means the action was the topic. Agreed to split means the team made a decision or commitment.

Check: In We avoided restarting the worker during peak traffic, what is the action object?

Think first, then reveal.

Answer: restarting the worker. The main verb is avoided; the avoided action is restarting the worker.

Practice

Rewrite each literal sentence into natural technical English.

1. We discussed to split the table.
2. We delayed to deploy the worker.
3. We considered to cache the response.
4. We avoided to change production during the incident.

Model answers:

We discussed splitting the table.
We delayed deploying the worker.
We considered caching the response.
We avoided changing production during the incident.

Now write three tiny lines you can repeat during the day.

Daily Practice Lines

We discussed splitting the table.
We delayed deploying the worker.
We considered caching the response.

Small variation:

Change one technical noun, but keep the pattern.

table -> cache -> parser -> queue -> migration

Example:

We discussed splitting the cache.
We discussed splitting the parser.
We discussed splitting the queue.

Some versions will sound odd because the technical action may not make sense. That is useful. Grammar and system meaning must both fit.

What To Carry Forward

This first lesson gives you one half of the track's main contrast.

Use doing when the second action is the object:

We discussed splitting the table.

Use to do when the second action is a goal, next step, plan, need, or decision:

We agreed to split the table.

You do not need to master both today. Today, make doing visible as an action object. The next lesson will make to do visible as a goal.

So far, keep one small diagnostic sentence in your head:

What did we discuss, delay, consider, avoid, finish, or suggest?

If the answer is another action, doing is often the natural shape.

We discussed splitting the table.
We delayed deploying the worker.
We suggested adding a guard clause.

This diagnostic is not a full grammar table. It is a practical tool for reading and writing short engineering comments.

Resources

• [ARTICLE] Cambridge Dictionary Grammar: Verb patterns - Use it as a reference for which verbs commonly take -ing or to.
• [ARTICLE] Cambridge Dictionary Grammar: -ing forms - Notice that -ing forms can work like nouns in a sentence.
• [ARTICLE] Microsoft Writing Style Guide - Use it for clear, reader-friendly technical sentences, not for grammar drilling.

Key Takeaways

• Doing can name an action as the object of a sentence.
• We discussed splitting the table means the split was the topic, not necessarily the decision.
• Look for the main verb first: discussed, delayed, considered, avoided, finished, or suggested.
• The next contrast is to do as a goal or next step: We agreed to split the table.