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In linguistics, “gerund” is a term used to refer to various non-finite verb forms in various languages:

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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 only of one word, the gerund) acts as a noun within the larger sentence. In Linguistics, a participle (from Latin participium, a Calque of Greek μετοχη "partaking" is a derivative of a non-finite For English usage of verbs see the wiki article English verbs. In Grammar, a clause is a word or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in some Languages and some types of For example:

Editing this article is very easy!

In the phrase "Editing this article," (although this is traditionally known as a phrase, it is referred to as a non-finite clause in modern linguistics) the word "Editing" behaves as a verb; the phrase "this article" is the object of that verb. But the whole phrase "Editing this article" acts as a noun within the sentence as a whole; it is the subject of the verb "is. "

Other examples of the gerund:

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 up, hear, imagine, include, justify, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice, observe, perceive, postpone, practice, quit, recall, report, resent, resume, risk, see, sense, stop, suggest, tolerate and watch. According to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle, every sentence can be divided in two main constituents, one being the subject of the sentence and the Additionally, prepositions are often followed by a gerund. In Grammar, a preposition is a Part of speech that introduces a prepositional phrase.

It is important to remember that the preposition "to" can also be used to introduce the infinitive. For example, in the sentence: "I went to the store to buy milk", the first "to" acts as a preposition of place, explaining where I went. However, the second "to" does not act as a preposition, but rather introduces the infinitive "to buy", which explains why you went.

For example:

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. In Grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages

For example:

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 I am watching sports on television, for example, I can react to the programs only as follows:

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.

forget and remember:

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

can't bear:

go on:

mean:

advise, recommend and forbid:

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

regret:

consider, contemplate and recommend:

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

try:

When a to-infinitive is used, it means the subject makes an effort at; attempt or endeavor to do something. If a gerund is used, it means the subject attempts to do something in testing to see what might happen.

Gerunds preceded by a genitive

In traditional English grammar, a noun or pronoun preceding a gerund must be genitive (possessive). In Grammar, the genitive case or possessive case (also called the second case) is the case that marks a Noun as modifying another

It is increasingly common to see the objective used in place of the possessive:

Gerunds and present participles

Traditional English grammar distinguished between gerunds and present participles. Both terms refer to the non-finite verb form ending in -ing (standing, swimming, etc. ); traditionally, the former was applied when the verb form was acting in some sense like a noun (say, as the subject or subject of a verb or preposition), and the latter when it was acting in some sense like an adjective. According to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle, every sentence can be divided in two main constituents, one being the subject of the sentence and the An object in Grammar is a Sentence element and part of the sentence predicate. In Grammar, a preposition is a Part of speech that introduces a prepositional phrase. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the The analogous distinction is very clear in Latin, where gerunds and participles are declined as nouns or adjectives, but the line is blurrier in English, and many modern linguists reject this distinction. In Linguistics, declension (or declination) is the occurrence of Inflection in Nouns Pronouns and Adjectives indicating The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, a widely respected descriptive grammar by Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey Pullum, uses the term gerund-participle, and lists its various uses without commenting on which might be considered nominal and which adjectival. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (ISBN 0-521-43146-8 presents a comprehensive descriptive grammar of English.

Insofar as there is a distinction between gerunds and present participles, it is generally fairly clear which is which; a gerund-participle that is the subject or object of a preposition is a gerund if it refers to the performance of an action (but note that 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. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the 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's a participle), or as a direct object or predicate nominative (in either of which cases it's 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; note 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. In English, as in many other languages the Passive voice is the form of Transitive verb whose grammatical subject serves as the patient, receiving *Asking Bill was kept.
pronominal substitution John suggested it. In Linguistics and Grammar, a pronoun is a Pro-form that substitutes for a (including a noun phrase consisting of a single Noun) with or John kept it.
Use as a noun John suggested the asking of Bill. *John kept the asking of Bill.
Replacement with a finite clause John suggested that Bill be asked. In Grammar, a clause is a word or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in some Languages and some types of *John kept that Bill be asked.
Use with an objective or possessive subject John suggested our asking Bill. *John kept his asking Bill.
Clefting Asking Bill is what John suggested. This article pertains to linguistics For other uses see Cleft (disambiguation. *Asking Bill is what John kept.
Left dislocation  ?Asking Bill John suggested. In Syntax, dislocation is a sentence structure in which a constituent which could otherwise be either an argument or an adjunct of the clause occurs *Asking Bill John kept.

None of these transformations is a perfect test, however.

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 than in English itself. Pseudo-anglicisms are words in languages other than English which were borrowed from English but are used in a way native English speakers would not readily recognize or understand In many of these cases, the loanword has functionally become a noun rather than a gerund. For instance, a "camping" is a campsite in Dutch, French, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Bulgarian, and Spanish; a "parking" is a parking lot in Bulgarian, French and Russian; and a "lifting" is a facelift in French, German, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Spanish.

See also

External links

References

In Grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages In Linguistics, a non-finite verb (or a verbal) is a Verb form that is not limited by a subject and more generally is not fully inflected by In Linguistics, a gerundive is a particular Verb form The term is applied very differently to different languages depending on the language gerundives may In Linguistics, a participle (from Latin participium, a Calque of Greek μετοχη "partaking" is a derivative of a non-finite A verbal noun is a Noun formed directly as an Inflexion of a Verb or a verb stem, sharing at least in part its constructions

Dictionary

gerund

-noun

  1. (grammar) A verbal form that functions as a verbal noun. (In English, a gerund has the same spelling as a present participle, but functions differently.)
  2. (grammar) In some languages such as Italian or Russian, a verbal form similar to a present participle, but functioning as an adverb. These words are sometimes referred to as conjunctive participles.
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