Texting is sending short written messages from one phone to another. The verb is 'to text', and texting is its -ing form, used both as an ongoing action ('she is texting her mother') and as a plain noun for the activity ('texting while driving is dangerous').

Texting is sending short written messages from one phone to anothertexting是指用手機傳簡短的文字訊息給另一支手機。The verb is 'to text', and texting is its -ing form, used both as an ongoing action ('she is texting her mother') and as a plain noun for the activity ('texting while driving is dangerous')動詞是'to text'，texting就是它的-ing形式，可以當進行式動作用（'she is texting her mother'她正在傳訊息給她媽媽），也可以當名詞，指這個行為本身（'texting while driving is dangerous'開車傳訊息很危險）。

The verb takes the person as its object with no preposition: you text someone, not text to someone. You can add the message too — 'text me the address', 'he texted her that he was late'. The past is 'texted', two syllables, and yes, it sounds a little odd; some speakers say just 'text' for the past, but 'texted' is the safe written form.

The verb takes the person as its object with no preposition: you text someone, not text to someone這個動詞把「人」直接當受詞，不加介系詞：你是text someone，不是text to someone。You can add the message too — 'text me the address', 'he texted her that he was late'你也可以把訊息內容一起放進去——'text me the address'傳地址給我、'he texted her that he was late'他傳訊息跟她說他會遲到。The past is 'texted', two syllables, and yes, it sounds a little odd過去式是'texted'，兩個音節，聽起來確實有點怪；some speakers say just 'text' for the past, but 'texted' is the safe written form有些人講過去式時就直接說'text'，不過寫出來的時候，'texted'才是保險的寫法。

Notice how far the word has travelled. It began with SMS, the tiny 160-character messages of old phones, but people now say 'text me' when they mean LINE, WhatsApp, Instagram — any short typed message. Older speakers keep it tied to the phone number; younger ones use it for almost any app.

Notice how far the word has travelled注意這個字走了多遠。It began with SMS, the tiny 160-character messages of old phones它從SMS開始——舊手機那種只有160個字元的小訊息——but people now say 'text me' when they mean LINE, WhatsApp, Instagram — any short typed message但現在人們說'text me'，可能指的是LINE、WhatsApp、Instagram——任何簡短的打字訊息都算。Older speakers keep it tied to the phone number; younger ones use it for almost any app年紀比較大的人還是會把它跟電話號碼綁在一起；年輕人幾乎任何app都拿來用這個字。

And this is a fine example of a noun becoming a verb: 'text' was only a piece of writing until about 1998, and some careful older writers still dislike the verb, though they have plainly lost that argument.

And this is a fine example of a noun becoming a verb而這正是名詞變動詞的一個好例子：'text' was only a piece of writing until about 1998'text'在大約1998年之前，只是「一段文字」的意思，and some careful older writers still dislike the verb, though they have plainly lost that argument有些講究的老一輩作家至今還是不喜歡把它當動詞用，不過他們顯然已經輸了這場爭論。