geruond

GERUND Definition: A traditional grammatical term for a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. Adjective: gerundial. A gerund with its objects, complements, and modifiers is called a gerund phrase or simply a noun phrase. Examples and Observations: • “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” (William A. Ward) • “Shooting paintballs is not an art form.” (Bart Simpson, The Simpsons) • “Humor is laughing at what you haven’t got when you ought to have it.” (Langston Hughes) • “Because they are nounlike, we can think of gerunds as names. But rather than naming persons, places, things, events, and the like, as nouns generally do, gerunds, because they are verbs in form, name activities or behaviors or states of mind or states of being.” (Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar. Allyn & Bacon, 1998) • “All talk of winning the people by appealing to their intelligence, of conquering them by impeccable syllogism, is so much moonshine.” (H. L. Mencken) • “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” (Woody Allen) • Gerunds and Verbal Nouns “A gerund is derived from a verb by adding the suffix -ing. The result is still a verb, and it exhibits ordinary verbal properties, such as taking objects and adverbs. Example: In football, deliberately tripping an opponent is a foul. Here the verb trip occurs in its gerund form tripping, but this tripping is still a verb: it takes the adverb deliberately and the object an opponent. However, the entire phrase deliberately tripping an opponent, because of the gerund within it, now functions as a noun phrase, in this case as the subject of the sentence. So, a gerund is still a verb, but the phrase built around it is nominal, not verbal. “Very different is a verbal noun constructed with -ing. Though derived from a verb, a verbal noun is strictly a noun, and it exhibits nominal properties . . ..” (R.L. Trask, Mind the Gaffe! Harper, 2006) • Gerunds and Present Participles “Present participles and gerunds look similar as words, and they also look similar as phrases. Again, it is the -ing verbal form that causes this problem. To clearly distinguish these, we need to consider their grammatical functions. A present participle functions as a non-finite form of a verb phrase, after verbs of motion and position; it can be an adverb complement after these verbs; it can qualify/modify as an adjective does. In contrast, gerunds like nouns have naming roles and can occupy the place of nouns in many of their grammatical functions. Unlike nouns, they do not name persons, places, things, or events; they name actions, states, and behaviors.” (Bernard O’Dwyer, Modern English Structures: Form, Function, And Position, 2nd ed. Broadview, 2006) Gerunds are defined as the -ing form of a verb. They have several functions. 1. Used as subjects and complements Skiing is my favorite sport. Hiking can be very strenuous. Seeing is believing 2. Used as objects following prepositions and prepositional expressions Thanks for tending my children. The job consists of typing, filing, and answering the phone. 3. Used as objects following certain verbs.* The children enjoyed watching the parade. Ms. Terrell avoided paying her taxes until it was too late. Gerunds can sometimes take objects of their own: Roland is afraid of making mistakes. Sandy is considering leaving New York. *These verbs are commonly followed by gerunds. admit begin discuss hate love practice regret stop advise can’t help dislike hesitate mention prefer remember suggest anticipate complete enjoy imagine mind quit resent threaten appreciate consider finish intend miss recall resist tolerate attempt delay forget keep neglect recollect risk try avoid deny go like postpone recommend start understand