gerund

American  

[jer-uhnd] / ˈdʒɛr ənd /

noun

Grammar.

1. (in certain languages, as Latin) a form regularly derived from a verb and functioning as a noun, having in Latin all case forms but the nominative, as Latin dicendī genitive, dicendō dative, ablative, etc., “saying.”

2. the English -ing form of a verb when functioning as a noun, as writing in Writing is easy.

3. a form similar to the Latin gerund in meaning or function.

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gerund British  

/ ˈdʒɛrənd, dʒɪˈrʌndɪəl /

noun

1. a noun formed from a verb, denoting an action or state. In English, the gerund, like the present participle, is formed in -ing

   the living is easy

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gerund Cultural  

1. A form of a verb that ends in -ing and operates as a noun in a sentence: “Thinking can be painful.”

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Grammar

See me.

Other Word Forms

• gerundial adjective
• gerundially adverb
• nongerundial adjective

Etymology

Origin of gerund

First recorded in 1505–15; from Late Latin gerundium, Latin gerundum “that which is to be carried on,” equivalent to ger(ere) “to bear, carry on” + -undum, variant of -endum, gerund suffix

Compare meaning

How does gerund compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• gerund vs. participle
• gerund vs. infinitive
• present participle vs. gerund

Explanation

In English grammar, a gerund is a word based on a verb that functions as a noun in the sentence. For example, if you say "Sleeping is my favorite thing to do," "sleeping" is a gerund. Gerund comes from the Latin word gerundus, which means to carry on. In English, gerunds can be the subject of the sentence, the direct object, or the indirect object, and they always end in "ing." They are verbs that are acting as nouns. In the sentence, "You may like writing, but it's clear you don't like grammar," the word "writing" is a gerund.

Example Sentences

Yglesias named his Substack “Slow Boring,” after a 1919 lecture by the German sociologist Max Weber titled “Politics as a Vocation,” wherein “boring” is not an adjective of dullness but a gerund of diligence.

From Washington Post • Jan. 11, 2023

His intentional use of a gerund in the title allows “entertaining” to be read as both doing a thing and being a thing.

From New York Times • Nov. 2, 2021

First off, nice possessive before a gerund, Jordan!

From Golf Digest • Apr. 6, 2020

Instead, Wilson and Nabokov clashed over a gerund.

From Slate • Dec. 20, 2016

A noun or pronoun linked with a gerund should be in the possessive case whenever the use of the objective case might cause confusion.

From The Century Handbook of Writing by Greever, Garland