In linguistics, gerund (abbreviated ger) is a term used to refer to various non-finite verb forms in various languages:
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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 of only one word, the gerund itself) acts as a noun within the larger sentence. For example: Editing this article is easy.
In "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 noun; the phrase "this article" is the object of that noun. "Editing this article" acts as a noun phrase within the sentence as a whole, though; it is the subject of the verb "is."
Other examples of 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:
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 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 one is watching sports on television, for example, one 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 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.
cannot bear:
go on:
mean:
advise, recommend and forbid:
These are followed by a to-infinitive when there is an object as well, but by a gerund otherwise.
consider, contemplate and recommend:
These verbs are followed by a to-infinitive only in the passive or with an object pronoun.
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.
Because of its noun properties, the genitive (possessive case) is preferred for a noun or pronoun preceding a gerund.
This usage is preferred in formal writing or speaking. The objective case is often used in place of the possessive, especially in casual situations:
Really, 'I do not see its making any difference' is the correct option.
This may sound awkward in general use, but is still the correct manner in which to converse or write. And this form of gerund is applicable in all relative cases, for instance:
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'He affected my going there.'
'He affected your going there.'
'He affected his/her/its going there.'
'He affected our going there.'
'He affected their going there.'
This is because the action, of doing or being, belongs, in effect, to the subject/object (direct or indirect) practising it, thus, the possessive is required to clearly demonstrate that.
In some cases, either the possessive or the objective case may be logical:
Either of these sentences could mean that the student was startled because the teacher was shouting.
Using the objective case can be awkward if the gerund is singular but the other noun is plural. It can look like a problem with subject-verb agreement:
One might decide to make was plural so that debating can be a participle.
it may.. considered as a noun / pronoun..
reading is essential to students like me.
Insofar as there is a distinction between gerunds and present participles, it is generally fairly clear which is which; a gerund or participle that is the subject or object of a preposition is a gerund if it refers to the performance of an action (but 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. 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 is a participle), or as a direct object or predicate nominative (in either of which cases it is 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; it should be noted 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. | *Asking Bill was kept. |
| Pronominal substitution | John suggested it. | *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. | *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. | *Asking Bill is what John kept. |
| Left dislocation | Asking Bill John suggested. | *Asking Bill John kept. |
None of these transformations is a perfect test, however.
English words ending in -ing are often transformed into pseudo-anglicisms in other languages, where their use is somewhat different than in English itself. In many of these cases, the loanword has functionally become a noun rather than a gerund. For instance, camping is a campsite in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Greek, Italian, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish; in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Polish, and Russian parking is a parking lot (car park in British English); lifting is a facelift in Bulgarian, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian, and Spanish. The French word for shampoo is (le) shampooing.
In the Molesworth books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, Searle included a series of cartoons on the private life of the gerund, 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.
The webcomic A Softer World had a comic about doing something verb-wise while sitting in a tree, with the alt-text "I want us to gerund, essentially."
   | link title - Example Web Page |
| | private life of the gerund - St Custard's |
| | Gerund and Infinitive - Gerund and infinitive- Learn english online U-LEARNENGLISH.COM |
| | doing something verb-wise while sitting in a tree - A Softer World: 429 |
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