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From a tutorial

I love getting out of work early.

I understand the meanings of it and the examples on Merriam-Webster. I also understand it's just an example of the usage of "get out of".

Idiomatic

I am aware that the expression I love doing something is idiomatic.

I'd just like to know whether "love getting out of something" is a common expression to convey the idea the speaker dislikes or tends to avoid something.

Ngram Viewer shows no one say it that way.

Grammatical

Besides, I suspect that "getting out of work early" might not even be grammatically correct. How about this one?

getting out of working early

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  • You changed your question after posting it and seeing answers. to get out of something is different than the time expression get out of work or class early.
    – Lambie
    Jun 29, 2020 at 15:25

2 Answers 2

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Yes, I love [doing something] is grammatical, and I love getting out of work early is a totally fine and common expression to convey a general like or preference.

"Getting out of working" is not the same as "getting out of work" and is not idiomatic in this context. "Work" here is treated the same way "school" or "class" might be.

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  • Thank you. Is the part of speech of "work early" there a verb or a noun?
    – JQQ
    Jun 29, 2020 at 3:23
  • @JQQ "work" is a noun that you can sort of understand as representing a place/the idea of a place. "I left work" (i.e., the place where I work) and "I left school" (i.e., the place where I attend school) and "I left the beach" all function the same grammatically.
    – Katy
    Jun 29, 2020 at 4:23
  • Thank you. Would you explain a bit the difference between "get out of working early" and "get out of work early"?
    – JQQ
    Jun 29, 2020 at 4:35
  • @JQQ get out of something that is not a timed activity means to find a way not to do it. He got out of doing his homework.
    – Lambie
    Jun 29, 2020 at 15:33
  • @JQQ "get out of working" means to avoid your responsibilities, or get out of making any contributions. "Get out of work" means to leave your place of employment for the day. We wouldn't say "get out of working early."
    – Katy
    Jun 30, 2020 at 1:21
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I love
I hate
I like
I dislike
And other verbs of emotion can be followed by a gerund.

He dislikes playing tennis. He likes getting out of work early.

to get out of work early = completely grammatical and idiomatic.

to get out of work early
to get out of work late
to get out of work on time
to get out of work when I want to.

Suggestion: learn the idiom

To get out of class

To get out of my responsibilities [another usage]
To get out of a situation

[Please note: do not confuse to get out of a place physically with succeeding in not doing something you don't want to do: He got out of doing his homework on Saturday.]

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  • Yeah, let's make sure we don't explain anything at all about the category of verb here and how they work. Let's make sure we chose an answer that merely says: Yes, this is grammatical.
    – Lambie
    Jun 30, 2020 at 12:49
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    Thank you. Your answer and comments are also great. I just upvoted it.
    – JQQ
    Jun 30, 2020 at 14:23

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