What is a gerund?

[abu nuwas]

Water! Water! Leanne needs water for her jokes!

Ok after a little digging, I get it. If 'running' is the action, it's not a gerund, but if 'running' is the subject then it is a gerund. I never really even heard 'gerund' until recently. (maybe I shouldn't admit that . . .)

Or it might be object. 'I despised Leanne's chastising of the lcoal youths'

'Chastising' is here a gerund, although it is the the object of 'despised'. I think Verb-noun is more useful then gerund.

[Leanne]

I read that as "I despised Leanne's chastity"...

Let us henceforth call them verb-nouns

[abu nuwas]

But then.... there is something cosy about a gerund. After all, you could force it to rhyme with 'rotund'.... I shall not get into chastise v chastity, it would be improper.

[Wildcard]

So in this sentence: 'I despise Leanne's chastising ways.' Wouldn't it be an adjective or am I missing it?

[abu nuwas]

No, you've got it.

[ellajam]

Who knew people had such strong feelings about the Ings? I love this site, so much to think about.

[ChristopherSea]

Who knew people had such strong feelings about the Ings? I love this site, so much to think about.

Hey Ella, you make it a better place. Thanks for always playing the Ku-choo-choo with me!

My take on 'ings' are this: Whether gerunds, verbs, adjectives, too many strung together create a loathsome 'sawing' sound and dilute the words they append.

From a review: 'Clawing, ripping and towering' is a no-go. INGs weaken their root word and create a real 'sawing' sound. Avoid them where possible. Claw, rip and tower is infinitely more effective!

Cheers/Chris

[milo]

Who knew people had such strong feelings about the Ings? I love this site, so much to think about.

Hey Ella, you make it a better place. Thanks for always playing the Ku-choo-choo with me!

My take on 'ings' are this: Whether gerunds, verbs, adjectives, too many strung together create a loathsome 'sawing' sound and dilute the words they append.

From a review: 'Clawing, ripping and towering' is a no-go. INGs weaken their root word and create a real 'sawing' sound. Avoid them where possible. Claw, rip and tower is infinitely more effective!

Cheers/Chris

Now that you made me read this, I have to point out that in the sentence, "I despise Leanne's chastising ways," chastising is a participle.

In the sentence, "I am tired of all the pedantic chastising on this site (mostly by Leanne)," it is a gerund.

Hope that helps.

[ChristopherSea]

Who knew people had such strong feelings about the Ings? I love this site, so much to think about.

Hey Ella, you make it a better place. Thanks for always playing the Ku-choo-choo with me!

My take on 'ings' are this: Whether gerunds, verbs, adjectives, too many strung together create a loathsome 'sawing' sound and dilute the words they append.

From a review: 'Clawing, ripping and towering' is a no-go. INGs weaken their root word and create a real 'sawing' sound. Avoid them where possible. Claw, rip and tower is infinitely more effective!

Cheers/Chris

Now that you made me read this, I have to point out that in the sentence, "I despise Leanne's chastising ways," chastising is a participle.

In the sentence, "I am tired of all the pedantic chastising on this site (mostly by Leanne)," it is a gerund.

Hope that helps.

Ha ha... Right, when an 'ing' makes a verb a noun.

[ellajam]

No matter how well it's explained, I'm still confused, but that's alright. I'm more concerned with its effect and how it sounds than what it's called. Although I'm sure a real understanding of grammar is a fine tool for a writer, I don't know that my interest is strong enough to get there.

When I think of Grammar my head fills with this:

Grammar by Tony Hoagland

Maxine, back from a weekend with her boyfriend,
smiles like a big cat and says
that she's a conjugated verb.
She's been doing the direct object
with a second person pronoun named Phil,
and when she walks into the room,
everybody turns:

some kind of light is coming from her head.
Even the geraniums look curious,
and the bees, if they were here, would buzz
suspiciously around her hair, looking
for the door in her corona.
We're all attracted to the perfume
of fermenting joy,

we've all tried to start a fire,
and one day maybe it will blaze up on its own.
In the meantime, she is the one today among us
most able to bear the idea of her own beauty,
and when we see it, what we do is natural:
we take our burned hands
out of our pockets,
and clap.

[tectak]

No matter how well it's explained, I'm still confused, but that's alright. I'm more concerned with its effect and how it sounds than what it's called. Although I'm sure a real understanding of grammar is a fine tool for a writer, I don't know that my interest is strong enough to get there.

When I think of Grammar my head fills with this:

Grammar by Tony Hoagland

Maxine, back from a weekend with her boyfriend,
smiles like a big cat and says
that she's a conjugated verb.
She's been doing the direct object
with a second person pronoun named Phil,
and when she walks into the room,
everybody turns:

some kind of light is coming from her head.
Even the geraniums look curious,
and the bees, if they were here, would buzz
suspiciously around her hair, looking
for the door in her corona.
We're all attracted to the perfume
of fermenting joy,

we've all tried to start a fire,
and one day maybe it will blaze up on its own.
In the meantime, she is the one today among us
most able to bear the idea of her own beauty,
and when we see it, what we do is natural:
we take our burned hands
out of our pockets,
and clap.

I have said this before but I cannot claim to be the originator.
If you put "in the act of" before the -ing word, and it still makes sentence sense...it is not a gerund. If it makes no sentence sense....you have a gerund.
eg.

"Mary was washing the car" now..."Mary was in the act of washing the car." still makes sense so NOT a gerund.

"Washing the car was Mary's job" now..." In the act of washing the car was Mary's job".makes NO sense. It IS a a gerund.

Easy.
Best,
tectak.

[ellajam]

No matter how well it's explained, I'm still confused, but that's alright. I'm more concerned with its effect and how it sounds than what it's called. Although I'm sure a real understanding of grammar is a fine tool for a writer, I don't know that my interest is strong enough to get there.

When I think of Grammar my head fills with this:

Grammar by Tony Hoagland

Maxine, back from a weekend with her boyfriend,
smiles like a big cat and says
that she's a conjugated verb.
She's been doing the direct object
with a second person pronoun named Phil,
and when she walks into the room,
everybody turns:

some kind of light is coming from her head.
Even the geraniums look curious,
and the bees, if they were here, would buzz
suspiciously around her hair, looking
for the door in her corona.
We're all attracted to the perfume
of fermenting joy,

we've all tried to start a fire,
and one day maybe it will blaze up on its own.
In the meantime, she is the one today among us
most able to bear the idea of her own beauty,
and when we see it, what we do is natural:
we take our burned hands
out of our pockets,
and clap.

I have said this before but I cannot claim to be the originator.
If you put "in the act of" before the -ing word, and it still makes sentence sense...it is not a gerund. If it makes no sentence sense....you have a gerund.
eg.

"Mary was washing the car" now..."Mary was in the act of washing the car." still makes sense so NOT a gerund.

"Washing the car was Mary's job" now..." In the act of washing the car was Mary's job".makes NO sense. It IS a a gerund.

Easy.
Best,
tectak.

Nice, that's something I can probably remember.

[milo]

No matter how well it's explained, I'm still confused, but that's alright. I'm more concerned with its effect and how it sounds than what it's called. Although I'm sure a real understanding of grammar is a fine tool for a writer, I don't know that my interest is strong enough to get there.

When I think of Grammar my head fills with this:

Grammar by Tony Hoagland

Maxine, back from a weekend with her boyfriend,
smiles like a big cat and says
that she's a conjugated verb.
She's been doing the direct object
with a second person pronoun named Phil,
and when she walks into the room,
everybody turns:

some kind of light is coming from her head.
Even the geraniums look curious,
and the bees, if they were here, would buzz
suspiciously around her hair, looking
for the door in her corona.
We're all attracted to the perfume
of fermenting joy,

we've all tried to start a fire,
and one day maybe it will blaze up on its own.
In the meantime, she is the one today among us
most able to bear the idea of her own beauty,
and when we see it, what we do is natural:
we take our burned hands
out of our pockets,
and clap.

I have said this before but I cannot claim to be the originator.
If you put "in the act of" before the -ing word, and it still makes sentence sense...it is not a gerund. If it makes no sentence sense....you have a gerund.
eg.

"Mary was washing the car" now..."Mary was in the act of washing the car." still makes sense so NOT a gerund.

"Washing the car was Mary's job" now..." In the act of washing the car was Mary's job".makes NO sense. It IS a a gerund.

Easy.
Best,
tectak.

Nice, that's something I can probably remember.

I don't even know if there is a benefit to being able to identify a gerund

other than to impress people on poetry boards.

[ellajam]

I have said this before but I cannot claim to be the originator.
If you put "in the act of" before the -ing word, and it still makes sentence sense...it is not a gerund. If it makes no sentence sense....you have a gerund.
eg.

"Mary was washing the car" now..."Mary was in the act of washing the car." still makes sense so NOT a gerund.

"Washing the car was Mary's job" now..." In the act of washing the car was Mary's job".makes NO sense. It IS a a gerund.

Easy.
Best,
tectak.

Nice, that's something I can probably remember.

I don't even know if there is a benefit to being able to identify a gerund

other than to impress people on poetry boards.

Well, it would be nice not to misuse the term gerund when responding to someone on a poetry board using it while critiquing your poem.

Aside from that, nope, hasn't come up.

[milo]

Nice, that's something I can probably remember.

I don't even know if there is a benefit to being able to identify a gerund

other than to impress people on poetry boards.

Well, it would be nice not to misuse the term gerund when responding to someone on a poetry board using it while critiquing your poem.

Aside from that, nope, hasn't come up.

I have just updated my resume and added that skill. I expect several substantially higher offers are incoming.

[rayheinrich]

“Now take this sword, this Treaty-Blade. Occurian seal,
mark of your worth. Cut deep the Cryst and seize your Shards.
Wield Dynast King's power! Destroy Venat!”
—Gerund to Princess Ashe

Gerund (ゲルン-王, Gerund-Ō?) is the leader of the Occuria in
Final Fantasy XII. The one who has been manipulating Ashe into
seeking power, Gerund leads the Occuria in their control over
Ivalice history.

[tectak]

“Now take this sword, this Treaty-Blade. Occurian seal,
mark of your worth. Cut deep the Cryst and seize your Shards.
Wield Dynast King's power! Destroy Venat!”
—Gerund to Princess Ashe

Gerund (ゲルン-王, Gerund-Ō?) is the leader of the Occuria in
Final Fantasy XII. The one who has been manipulating Ashe into
seeking power, Gerund leads the Occuria in their control over
Ivalice history.

Yes...of course....now just take this medicine...there, that's better...go to sleep now....that nasty Gerund has gone away

[rayheinrich]

"A gerund," said Joffrey the jurist,
"Never flows from the pen of a purist.
It's vulgar and loose,
Like shit from a goose;
Yes a gerund's a trial to endurest."






Mr. Fishing was fishing fishing fishing,
not encouraging flattering complimenting.

[bena]

Why do people hate the gerund so? What has it done to you?

No, really I think it can be weaker, but it's not an all-fast rule that all gerunds should be done away with. Perhaps use them with moderation.

[Leanne]

Indeed, do not hate the gerund -- hate people who overuse ANY grammatical construct, poetic technique or Lynx deodorant.