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gerund

gerund

2 6.8
A word made from a verb by adding -ing that is used as a subject or object
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛrənd/
  • Specialized
: gerundio
  • It's when a gerund is used as a subject that sentences often go astray.

We can string those terms together because we have the verb, you know, to be turned into a gerund right being.

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Examples

  • And the object of the preposition would be a noun, a pronoun, a gerund...

  • All of those gerunds apply to teachers as well as students.

    Blog text (27)
  • Come over here and I'll tell you about gerunds.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Let's try another gerund with a perfectly good noun counterpart.

    Blog text (1)
  • So anyway, when a gerund leaves verbhood to become a noun, what verbiness does it retain?

    Blog text (1)
  • He likes gerunds.

  • Now that I think of it, gerunds used later in the sentence (same with participles) don't much bother me.

    Blog text (1)
  • Each issue was individually coded, collapsed into categories, grouped into themes, and labeled using active words (gerunds).

    Academic text (2015)
  • Why use a verbal rather than a noun? (Most gerunds have counterpart nouns, after all—"knowing" has "knowledge.")

    Blog text (1)
  • Swimming is my favorite activity, and I practice the gerund every day.

Synonyms

verbal noun
vsgerund
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A noun made from a verb that names an action or process

is formed with -ing and used as subject or object

Surface Forms

gerund singular
gerunds plural

Etymology

Gerund comes from the old Latin word gerundium, from the root gerere meaning 'to do'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of a gerund as the 'doing' form of a verb used like a noun, as in running or swimming.