What is a gerund?
10 answers from our tutors
- DaniloTeaching English linguistics
Gerund is an extremely ill-conceived concept and you shouldn't bother trying to figure it out. Google defines it as "a verb form that functions as a noun, in English ending in -ing". So, if the -ing word functions as the subject or object in the sentence structure, it qualifies as a gerund. But, we have a great many words in English that we could just as same define as a sort of cross-breed between a verb and a noun. "Shopping", "talking", "walking", "playing" etc. are words that can perform the job of a noun, and thus (potentially) gerunds, so what prevents us from defining "shop", "talk", "walk", "play" etc. as gerunds too? "Walk" in "I took a walk to the river." definitely performs the job of a noun, and that qualifies it as a gerund, doesn't it? It should, because it is the working definition of a gerund. It would take far more space than allowed here to explain why thinking in such terms is wrong, and how one should understand the -ing words and their use in English.
Hi Gerunds are verbal nouns. They can object and subject in a English sentence. E.g. cycling is fun. I enjoy cycling Best Regards
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The best description I have ever heard for a gerund came from my grade 12 English teacher. A gerund is the child of a verb and a noun; it looks like a verb and behaves like a noun. A gerund always ends in -ing, but don't let this trick you! That's just it disguising itself as a verb ;) In the following sentence, "eating" is a verb: I am eating. In this sentence, the same word functions as a noun: Eating is great for families to do together. Hope this helps!
A verb ending in ing that functions as a noun. For example shopping is my habit.
My favorite gerund is ''eating" . hahaha.....whats your?
Whenever you see a verb added with "ing", its a gerund. A gerund states the state of being/continuity of an action/event.
verb with "ing" continuous action
Playing, dancing, singing, words that ends with ‘ing’
A noun form of a verb that typically ends in “in-ing”
A form that is derived from a verb, but will function as a pronoun, usually ending in "ing"
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