Gerund

In linguistics, gerund (abbreviated GER) is a term used to refer to various infinite verb forms
in various languages:

 As applied to English, it refers to the usage of a verb (in its -ing form) as a noun (for example,
the verb "learning" in the sentence "Learning is an easy process for some"). This is also the
term's use as applied to Latin; see Latin conjugation.
 As applied to Spanish, it refers to an adverbial participle (a verbal adverb), called in Spanish
the gerundio.
 As applied to French, it refers either to the adverbial participle—also called the gerundive—
or to the present adjectival participle.
 As applied to Portuguese, it refers to an adverbial participle (a verbal adverb), called the
gerúndio.
 As applied to Hebrew, it refers either to the verb's action noun, or to the part of the
infinitive following the infinitival prefix (also called the infinitival construct).
 As applied to Frisian, it refers to one of two verb forms frequently referred to as infinitives,
this one ending in -n. It shows up in nominalizations and is selected by perception verbs.
 As applied to Japanese, it designates verb and verbals adjective forms in dictionary form
paired with the referral particle no, which turns the verbal into a concept or property noun.
 As applied to other languages, it may refer to almost any non-finite verb form; however, it
most often refers to an action noun, by analogy with its use as applied to English or Latin.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Etymology
 2 Gerunds in English
o 2.1 Double nature of the gerund
o 2.2 Verb patterns with the gerund
 2.2.1 Verbs followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive
 2.2.2 Gerunds preceded by a genitive
o 2.3 Gerunds and present participles
o 2.4 English gerund-like words in other languages
 3 The gerund in popular culture
 4 See also
 5 References

[edit] Etymology

The word 'gerund' in English comes form the Latin term gerundium, of the same meaning.
Gerundium itself comes from the gerundive of the Latin verb gero, gerundus, meaning "to be
carried out".
[edit] Gerunds in English

In English, the gerund is identical in form to the present participle (ending in -ing) and can
behave as a verb within a clause (so that it may be modified by an adverb or have an object),
but the clause as a whole (sometimes consisting of only one word, the gerund itself) acts as a
noun within the larger sentence. For example: Eating this cake is easy.

In "Eating this cake is easy," "eating this cake," although traditionally known as a phrase, is
referred to as a non-finite clause in modern linguistics. "Eating" is the verb in the clause,
while "this cake" is the object of the verb. "Eating this cake" acts as a noun phrase within the
sentence as a whole, though; it is the subject of the verb "is."

Other examples of the gerund:

 I like swimming. (direct object)

 Swimming is fun. (subject)

Some use "gerund" to refer to all nouns ending in -ing, but in more careful use, not all nouns
ending in -ing are gerunds.[1] The formal distinction is that a gerund is a verbal noun – a noun
derived from a verb that retains verb characteristics, that functions simultaneously as a noun
and a verb, while other nouns ending in -ing are deverbal nouns, which function as common
nouns, not as verbs at all. Compare:

 I like fencing. (gerund, an activity, could be replaced with "to fence")

 The white fencing adds to the character of the neighborhood. (deverbal, could be replaced
with an object such as "bench")

[edit] Double nature of the gerund

As the result of its origin and development the gerund has nominal and verbal properties. The
nominal characteristics of the gerund are as follows:

1. The gerund can perform the function of subject, object and predicative:
o Smoking endangers your health. (subject)
o I like making people happy. (object)
2. The gerund can be preceded by a preposition:
o I'm tired of arguing.
3. Like a noun the gerund can be modified by a noun in the possessive case, a possessive
adjective, or an adjective:
o I wonder at John's keeping calm.
o Is there any objection to my seeing her?
o Brisk walking relieves stress.

The verbal characteristics of the gerund include the following:

1. The gerund of transitive verbs can take a direct object:

o I've made good progress in speaking English.
2. The gerund can be modified by an adverb:
o Breathing deeply helps you to calm down.
3. The gerund has the distinctions of aspect and voice.
 o Having read the book once before makes me more prepared.
o Being deceived can make someone feel angry.

[edit] Verb patterns with the gerund

Verbs that are often followed by a gerund include admit, adore, anticipate, appreciate, avoid,
carry on, consider, contemplate, delay, deny, describe, detest, dislike, enjoy, escape, fancy,
feel, finish, give, hear, imagine, include, justify, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice,
observe, perceive, postpone, practice, quit, recall, report, resent, resume, risk, see, sense,
sleep, stop, suggest, tolerate and watch. Additionally, prepositions are often followed by a
gerund.

For example:

 I will never quit smoking.

 We postponed making any decision.
 After two years of deciding, we finally made a decision.
 We heard whispering.
 They denied having avoided me.
 He talked me into coming to the party.
 They frightened her out of voicing her opinion.

[edit] Verbs followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive

With little change in meaning

begin, continue, start; hate, like, love, prefer

With would, the verbs hate, like, love, and prefer are usually followed by the to-infinitive.

 I would like to work there. (more usual than working)

In these examples, if the subject of the verb is not the subject of the second verb, the second
verb must be a gerund (instead of an infinitive).

If one is watching sports on television, for example, one can react to the programs only as
follows:

 I enjoy boxing.
 I am ambivalent to swimming.
 I love golfing.

With a change in meaning

dread and hate:

These two verbs are followed by a to-infinitive when talking subjunctively (usually when
using to think), but by a gerund when talking about general dislikes.

 I dread / hate to think what she will do.

  I dread / hate seeing him.

forget and remember:

When these have meanings that are used to talk about the future from the given time, the to-
infinitive is used, but when looking back in time, the gerund.

 She forgot to tell me her plans. (She did not tell me, although she should have.)
 She forgot telling me her plans. (She told me, but then forgot having done so.)
 I remembered to go to work. (I remembered that I needed to go to work, and so I did.)
 I remembered going to work. (I remembered that I went to work.)

cannot bear:

 I cannot bear to see you suffer like this. (You are suffering now.)
 I cannot bear being pushed around in crowds. (I never like that.)

go on:

 After winning the semi-finals, he went on to play in the finals. (He completed the semi-finals
and later played in the finals.)
 He went on giggling, not having noticed the teacher enter. (He continued doing so.)

mean:

 I did not mean to scare you off. (I did not intend to scare you off.)
 Taking a new job in the city meant leaving behind her familiar surroundings. (If she took the
job, she would have to leave behind her familiar surroundings.)

advise, recommend and forbid:

These are followed by a to-infinitive when there is an object as well, but by a gerund
otherwise.

 The police advised us not to enter the building, for a murder had occurred. (Us is the object
of advised.)
 The police advised against our entering the building. (Our is used for the gerund entering.)

consider, contemplate and recommend:

These verbs are followed by a to-infinitive only in the passive or with an object pronoun.

 People consider her to be the best. – She is considered to be the best.

 I am considering sleeping over, if you do not mind.

regret:

 We regret to inform you that you have failed your exam. (polite or formal form of apology)
 I very much regret saying what I said. (I wish that I had not said that.)
try:

When a to-infinitive is used, the subject is shown to make an effort at something, attempt or
endeavor to do something. If a gerund is used, the subject is shown to attempt to do
something in testing to see what might happen.

 Please try to remember to post my letter.

 I have tried being stern, but to no avail.

[edit] Gerunds preceded by a genitive

Because of its noun properties, the genitive (possessive case) is preferred for a noun or
pronoun preceding a gerund.

 We enjoyed their [genitive] singing.

This usage is preferred in formal writing or speaking. The objective case is often used in
place of the possessive, especially in casual situations:

 I do not see it making any difference.

Really, 'I do not see its making any difference' is the correct option.

This may sound awkward in general use, but is still the correct manner in which to converse
or write. And this form of gerund is applicable in all relative cases, for instance:

'He affected my going there.'

'He affected your going there.'
'He affected his/her/its going there.'
'He affected our going there.'
'He affected their going there.'

This is because the action, of doing or being, belongs, in effect, to the subject/object (direct or
indirect) practising it, thus, the possessive is required to clearly demonstrate that.

In some cases, either the possessive or the objective case may be logical:

 The teacher's shouting startled the student. (Shouting is a gerund, and teacher's is a
possessive noun. The shouting is the subject of the sentence.)
 The teacher shouting startled the student. (Shouting is a participle describing the teacher.
This sentence means The teacher who was shouting startled the student. In this sentence,
the subject is the teacher herself.)

Either of these sentences could mean that the student was startled because the teacher was
shouting.

Using the objective case can be awkward if the gerund is singular but the other noun is plural.
It can look like a problem with subject-verb agreement:

 The politicians' debating was interesting.

One might decide to make was plural so that debating can be a participle.

 The politicians debating were interesting.

[edit] Gerunds and present participles

Insofar as there is a distinction between gerunds and present participles, it is generally fairly
clear which is which; a gerund or participle that is the subject or object of a preposition is a
gerund if it refers to the performance of an action (but present participles may be used
substantively to refer to the performer of an action), while one that modifies a noun
attributively or absolutely is a participle. The main source of potential ambiguity is when a
gerund-participle follows a verb; in this case, it may be seen either as a predicate adjective (in
which case it is a participle), or as a direct object or predicate nominative (in either of which
cases it is a gerund). In this case, a few transformations can help distinguish them. In the table
that follows, ungrammatical sentences are marked with asterisks, per common linguistic
practice; it should be noted that the transformations all produce grammatical sentences with
similar meanings when applied to sentences with gerunds but either ungrammatical
sentences, or sentences with completely different meanings, when applied to sentences with
participles.

Transformation Gerund use Participle use

(none) John suggested asking Bill. John kept asking Bill.

Passivization Asking Bill was suggested. *Asking Bill was kept.

Pronominal substitution John suggested it. *John kept it.

John suggested the asking of *John kept the asking of

Use as a noun
Bill. Bill.

John suggested that Bill be *John kept that Bill be

Replacement with a finite clause
asked. asked.

Use with an objective or possessive

John suggested our asking Bill. *John kept his asking Bill.
subject

Asking Bill is what John *Asking Bill is what John

Clefting
suggested. kept.

Left dislocation Asking Bill John suggested. *Asking Bill John kept.

None of these transformations is a perfect test, however.

[edit] English gerund-like words in other languages

English words ending in -ing are often transformed into pseudo-anglicisms in other
languages, where their use is somewhat different from in English itself. In many of these
cases, the loanword has functionally become a noun rather than a gerund. For instance,
camping is a campsite in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Greek, Italian, Romanian, Russian, and
Spanish; in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Polish, and Russian parking is a car park; lifting is a
facelift in Bulgarian, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian, and Spanish. The French
word for shampoo is (le) shampooing.

[edit] The gerund in popular culture

In the Molesworth books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, Searle included a series of
cartoons on the private life of the gerund, intended to parody the linguistic snobbery of Latin
teachers' striving after strict grammatical correctness and the difficulty experienced by
students in comprehending the construction.

Owen Johnson's "Lawrenceville Stories" feature a Latin teacher who constantly demands that
his students determine whether a given word is a gerund or a gerundive.

[edit] See also