Brazil's Federal District Governor Jose Roberto Arruda ``fired'' the present participle from his administration, citing inefficiency.

Banning the verb form, which ends in ``ndo'' in Portuguese (``ing'' in English), was done to prevent government officials from using continuous tenses to obscure progress -- or the lack of it.

Decree No. 28.314 was issued to end vague promises by government officials, such as: ``We'll be taking steps,'' Globo news agency reported, citing aides to Arruda it didn't identify by name.