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

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

He pumped the beat, a Ugandan jive, and after shouting the gerund a few more times, he finally came to its object: “Rep-re-sen-ting UUUUUUUUUU-gan-da!”

From The Guardian • May 18, 2016

As the object of a preposition is a participle or gerund used?

From Practical Grammar and Composition by Wood, Thomas