Wiktionary

gerund

English

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Etymology

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FromLatingerundium,fromgerendus(“which is to be carried out”),future passive participle (gerundive) ofgerō(“carry, bear”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gerund(pluralgerunds)

Examples (English, verbal noun)
  • Walkingis good exercise.
  • Thecryingof the baby was a constant annoyance.
  • He most enjoyed thesinging.
Examples (Russian, adverbial)
Нельзя́ переходи́ть у́лицу,чита́ягазе́ту.
Nelʹzjá perexodítʹ úlicu,čitájagazétu.
One shouldn’t cross a streetwhile readinga newspaper.
Examples (Afrikaans, adverbial)
Daardie vent stapal lesendedie straat oor!
That fellow is crossing the streetwhile reading!
  1. (grammar)Averbalform thatfunctionsas averbal noun.(In English, a gerund has the same spelling as apresent participle,but functions differently; however, this distinction may be ambiguous or unclear and so is no longer made in some modern texts such asA Comprehensive Grammar of the English LanguageandThe Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)
    • 1991,Edward Johnson,The Handbook of Good English,page208:
      Compounds in whichgerundsare the second element look exactly like compounds in which present participles are the second element, but different principles of hyphenation apply.
    • 2002,Dan Mulvey,Grammar the Easy Way,page25:
      Like any noun, thegerundfunctions as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or predicate nominative. Thegerundphrase is made up of the present participle ( "-ing" ) and can contain an object and/or a modifier (and sometimes many modifiers). Thegerundis a verbal noun.
    • 2005,Gary Lutz, Diane Stevenson,The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference,page55:
      Gerundsandgerundphrases are always nouns, so they are always predicate nominatives when used as complements. Do be careful to distinguish progressive-tense verbs fromgerundsused as subjective complements.
  2. (grammar)In some languages such asDutch,ItalianorRussian,a verbal form similar to apresent participle,butfunctioningas anadverbto formadverbial phrasesor continuous tense. These constructions have various names besidesgerund,depending on the language, such asconjunctiveparticiples,active participles,adverbial participles,transgressives,etc.
    • 2013,John Butt, Carmen Benjamin,A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish,Kindle edition, Routledge,→ISBN:
      The Spanishgerundis quite unlike the English -ing form (‘walking’, ‘replying’, ‘saying’, etc.), which can function as a gerund, a present participle, a noun or an adjective; and it is also unlike the French form ending in-ant,which covers the functions of both the Spanishgerundand the adjectival form in-ante,-(i)entediscussed at 19.4.

Hypernyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Participle

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gerund

  1. pastparticipleofrunnen

Declension

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Declension ofgerund
uninflected gerund
inflected gerunde
positive
predicative/adverbial gerund
indefinite m./f.sing. gerunde
n.sing. gerund
plural gerunde
definite gerunde
partitive gerunds
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