Gerund

The gerund (/ˈdʒɛrənd/ or /ˈdʒɛrʌnd/) is a non-finite verb form that can function as a noun in Latin and English grammar. The English gerund ends in -ing (as in I enjoy playing basketball). The same verb form also serves as the English present participle (which has an adjectival or adverbial function) and as a pure verbal noun. Thus the -ing form in the English language can function as a noun, verb, adjective or sometimes adverb; in certain sentences the distinction can be arbitrary.

The gerund is the form that names the action of the verb (for instance, playing is the action of "to play"). In some cases, a noun ending in -ing sometimes serves as a gerund (as in I like building / I like building things, I like painting / I like painting pictures, and I like writing / I like writing novels), while at other times serving as a non-gerund indicating the product resulting from an action (as in I work in that building, That is a good painting, and Her writing is good). The latter case can often be distinguished by the presence of a determiner before the noun, such as that, a, or her in these examples.

The Latin gerund (gerundium) is a verb form that behaves similarly to a noun, although it can only appear in certain oblique cases. (It should not be confused with the Latin gerundive, which is similar in form, but has a passive, adjectival use.)

In relation to other languages, the term gerund may be applied to a form which has noun-like uses like the Latin and English gerunds, or in some cases to various other non-finite verb forms, such as adverbial participles.

Gerund comes from the Latin gerundium, which itself derives from the gerundive of the Latin verb gero, namely gerundus, meaning " to be carried out".

Gerunds in various languages

Meanings of the term gerund as used in relation to various languages are listed below.


In 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.

Gerunds in English

In English, the gerund is one of the uses of the form of the verb ending in -ing (for details of its formation and spelling, see English verbs). This same verb form has other uses besides the gerund: it can serve as a present participle (used adjectivally or adverbially), and as a pure verbal noun.

A gerund behaves as a verb within a clause (so that it may be modified by an adverb or have an object); but the resulting clause as a whole (sometimes consisting of only one word, the gerund itself) functions as a noun within the larger sentence.

For example, consider the sentence "Eating this cake is easy." Here the gerund is the verb eating, which takes an object this cake. The entire clause eating this cake is then used as a noun, which in this case serves as the subject of the larger sentence.

An item such as eating this cake in the foregoing example is an example of a non-finite verb phrase; however, because phrases of this type do not require a subject, it is also a complete clause. (Traditionally such an item would be referred to as a phrase, but in modern linguistics it has become common to call it a clause.) A gerund clause such as this is one of the types of non-finite clause.

Formation

A gerund has four forms — two for the active voice and two for the passive:[2]

Active Passive
Present or ContinuousLovingBeing loved
Perfect Having lovedHaving been loved

Examples of use

The following sentences illustrate some uses of gerund clauses, showing how such a clause serves as a noun within the larger sentence. In some cases the clause consists of just the gerund (although in many such cases the word could equally be analyzed as a pure verbal noun).

Using gerunds of the appropriate auxiliary verbs, one can form gerund clauses that express perfect aspect and passive voice:

For more detail on when it is appropriate to use a gerund, see Verb patterns with the gerund below, and also Uses of English verb forms: Gerund.

Distinction from other uses of the -ing form

Gerunds are distinguished grammatically from other uses of a verb's -ing form: the present participle (which is a non-finite verb form like the gerund, but is adjectival or adverbial in function), and the pure verbal noun or deverbal noun.

The distinction between gerund and present participle is illustrated in the following sentences:

The distinction between the gerund and the pure verbal (deverbal) noun is that the gerund itself behaves as a verb, forming a verb phrase which is then used as a noun, whereas the pure noun does not in any way behave grammatically as a verb.[3] This is illustrated in the following examples:

For more details and examples of the distinctions introduced here, see -ing: uses.

Gerunds with a specified subject

A gerund cannot take a grammatical subject as a finite verb does. (The -ing verb form can take a subject in nominative absolute constructions such as The day being over, ..., but here it is a present participle rather than a gerund.) Normally the subject of the gerund is considered unspecified, or is understood to be the same as the subject of the main clause: in a sentence like "Meg likes eating apricots", the subject of eating is understood to be the same as the subject of the main clause, namely Meg – what Meg likes is a situation where she herself is eating apricots (see also raising verb). However in other cases it is necessary to specify explicitly who or what is to be understood as the subject of the gerund.

Many prescriptive grammarians prefer the subject of such a gerund to be expressed using the possessive form, since the gerund clause serves as a noun phrase. Hence:

The above construction is common in formal English; however in informal English it is often more usual to use just the noun or noun phrase (in the objective case, in the case of personal pronouns) to indicate the subject, without any possessive marker.

The above usage, though common, is criticized by some prescriptivists, since it apparently places two noun phrases (the agent and the gerund clause) together without any indication of their syntactic relation. It is compared with a superficially identical construction in which the -ing form is a present participle, and it is entirely appropriate for it to be preceded by a noun phrase, since the participial clause can be taken to qualify that noun phrase:

However others say that it is entirely acceptable to express the subject of the gerund with just the noun or the noun phrase in the nominative case or in the objective case, since the gerund is not a deverbal noun, but a verbal noun, i.e., a normal verb in a dependent noun clause.

The use of a non-possessive noun to precede a gerund is said to arise as a result of confusion with the above usage with a participle, and is thus sometimes called fused participle[4] or geriple.[5] This construction represents common informal usage with gerunds; however, if the prescriptive rule is followed, the difference between the two forms may be used to make a slight distinction in meaning:

In some cases, particularly with a non-personal subject, the use of the possessive before a gerund may be considered redundant even in quite a formal register. For example, "There is no chance of the snow falling" (rather than the prescriptively correct "There is no chance of the snow's falling").

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:

Verbs followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive

With little change in meaning

advise, recommend, forbid:

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

consider, contemplate, recommend:

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

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

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

When talking about sports, there is usually a difference in meaning between the infinitive and gerund (see the next section).

With a change in meaning

like, love, prefer:

In some contexts, following these verbs with a to-infinitive when the subject of the first verb is the subject of the second verb provides more clarity than a gerund.

dread, hate, cannot bear:

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

forget, 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.

go on:

mean:

regret:

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.

stop, quit:

When the infinitive is used after 'stop' or 'quit', it means that the subject stops one activity and starts the activity indicated by the infinitive. If the gerund is used, it means that the subject stops the activity indicated by the gerund.

Or more concisely:

Borrowings of English gerunds in other languages

English verb forms ending in -ing are sometimes borrowed into other languages. In some cases they become pseudo-anglicisms, taking on new meanings or uses which are not found in English. For instance, camping means "campsite" in many languages, while parking often means a car park. For more details and examples, see -ing words in other languages.

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",[6] 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.

In an episode of Dan Vs., "The Ninja", after Dan's milk carton exploded from the ninja's shuriken, a teenager said to Dan "Drinking problem much?" and Dan complained that the sentence had no verb, just a gerund.

In Alan Bennett's play, 'The History Boys', Dakin, when flirting with Irwin, states that 'your sucking me off' is a gerund and 'would please Hector'.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Merriam-Websterdefinition". WordNet 1.7.1. Retrieved 2014-03-19. A noun formed from a verb (such as the '-ing' form of an English verb when used as a noun).
  2. ↑ F T Wood, 1961, "NESFIELD'S ENGLISH GRAMMAR, COMPOSITION AND USAGE, MACMILLAN AND COMPANY LTD., p 78 "
  3. ↑ Re: Post Hey man, I gots ta know (Gerund versus gerundive), Phil White, Mon August 7, 2006 1:35 pm
  4. ↑ H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 1926
  5. ↑ Penguin guide to plain English, Harry Blamires (Penguin Books Ltd., 2000) ISBN 978-0-14-051430-8 pp.144-146
  6. ↑ "The Private Life of the Gerund". Molesworth.;

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