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Keywords - Are verbs that end in "ing" or in "s" preferred?
A question for the community:
When adding keywords describing an action that occurs in the film, are verbs ending in "ing" or in "s" preferred?
For example, consider the keywords "woman-vomiting" and "woman-vomits."
These two keywords describe the exact same thing. Yet they are two separate keywords, and each is currently used for the exact same number of titles (32 titles each).
Is one of them preferred over the other? If so, why?
Accepted Solution
Michelle
Employee
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17K Messages
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308.8K Points
3 years ago
Hi keyword_expert -
I'm just chiming in to confirm that there is no direct editorial preference as to whether Keyword verb endings be in "ing" or "s".
Ideally we aim to avoid keyword duplication whenever possible, when there are instances of duplicate verb keywords, when reported, our staff can combine them (usually we prefer to keep the most used keyword).
In the meantime, we are always looking to improve data on the site, I have passed along your feedback regarding having more direct information about our Keyword preferences referenced within the Help Guide.
Cheers!
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bradley_kent
1.3K Messages
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23.1K Points
3 years ago
When adding an "ing" to a verb, it becomes a gerund. A gerund can act, by itself, as a noun, i.e., vomiting, or as an adjective in conjunction with a noun, i.e., vomiting-woman. Putting the gerund in the final position, i.e., woman-vomiting, seems somewhat prosaic and distancing. In this particular care, I prefer "woman-vomits," because it is present tense and more active. (Actually, I prefer women - and men - not vomiting at all, but, alas, that is not the reality!).
In other particular cases, my preference would differ, depending on the verb involved. I doubt there is any possible consistency for ALL verbs when used in a gerund. Therefore, I almost always look to the keyword with the most titles as the precedent. That's almost like voting for a choice.
It's a tight race here:
woman-vomits 32 titles
woman-vomiting 31 titles
vomiting-woman 12 titles
But, look at this:
crying-woman. 1996 titles
woman-crying. 371 titles
woman-cries. 0 titles
(edited)
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Marco
2.7K Messages
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82.3K Points
3 years ago
Perhaps a staffer has an opinion on this matter? Perhaps the guide should state something about this?
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bradley_kent
1.3K Messages
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23.1K Points
3 years ago
The action usually takes preference over the person doing or receiving the action.
It's simple logic. Can there be a "murder" without a "murderer"and "murder-victim," although "murderess" and "child-murderer" or "child-murderess," etc., seem like valid exceptions because of their minority and specific status. Can there be "rape" without a "rapist" and "rape-victim," although "male-rape," "rape-of-a-child," etc., seem like valid exceptions? Can there be a "kidnapping" without a "kidnapper" and a "kidnap-victim"? "smuggling," without a "smuggler"? "theft," without a "thief"? Etc.
Nouns ending in "ion" or "age" seem to take precedence over those ending with "ing," i.e., "urination" instead of "urinating," "marriage" instead of "marrying," etc.
The point is: there are no all-encompassing, universal rules when it comes to keywords, only preferences. But isn't the goal to reduce (if not attempting to eliminate) repetitions and duplications. In the early days of IMDb, the practice was to use the keyword that had the most titles --- a sort of "voting," of "democracy at work," in determining such decisions. Now, too many times, it seems like a question of how many different ways one can say the same thing, over and over.
(edited)
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