plough the field, farming

[Ju]

1) They plough the field.
2) They do farming.

• What are the differences between the above sentences?

Thanks.

[BobK]

1) They plough the field.
2) They do farming.

• What are the differences between the above sentences?

Thanks.

The first is correct. Farming involves a lot of things - ploughing, sowing, tending crops, weeding, fertilizing, pest control, reaping, hay-making, stubble-burning... etc etc - and I haven't dealt with animals at all - also, paperwork with DEFRA and the EEC about grants and subsidies!

(Incidentally, one doesn't 'do farming'; if you really want another verb, I suppose you could say 'one practises farming' or 'one participates in farming'; mostly, though, people just farm, and people who farm are farmers. So your second sentence could be 'they are farmers'.)

b