Hurt feelings

[GoesStation]

For example, I wouldn't count He hid it to avoid hurt feelings as unnatural, even though it might not be the most likely thing, or the most natural thing, or the best thing in any other sense, for a native speaker to say.

I was going to address this back at the top of the thread, but I thought better of it. The odds are very slim that a learner will ever encounter a situation where such a statement would be natural, so for learners' purposes, it's safe to let the possibility pass.

 

[Tarheel]

Hello.
Can I say "hurting feelings" instrad of "hurt feelings"?
"He decided not to tell his wife the truth. He didn't want to hurt her. He hid it from her to avoid hurting her feelings."

My suggestions.

 

[tedmc]

I think the gerund (hurting) sounds better than the past participle (hurt).

GoesStation
It really isn't.

Charlie
It's actually on the fringe of acceptability to me.

In my earlier post above, I was merely making a comparison between the gerund (hurting) and past participle (hurt), not about whether the possessive pronoun (her) should be used. But the answer I got from GoesStation and Charlie was negative, which got me confused.
I did agree that using the gerund as in "hurting her feelings" was better and more natural simply because it was being clear and specific as to whose feelings.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Hmm. I really think that might be a fine idea. The members of this forum do seem to me to have very different ideas about what counts as natural use of English and what doesn't, which very often leads to confusion and unnecessary disagreement, in my opinion.

For example, I wouldn't count He hid it to avoid hurt feelings as unnatural, even though it might not be the most likely thing, or the most natural thing, or the best thing in any other sense, for a native speaker to say.

I think that a discussion where we share ideas on this point will be of great benefit to us all.

You are 100 % right. As a learner of English I find such discussions very helpful.