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

Derived Forms

• nongerundial
  adjective
• gerundial
  adjective
• gerundially
  adverb

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

Dink Stover, later to win fame at Yale, carried his whole Latin class by signalling with a pair of mobile ears whenever The Roman, their teacher, asked his favorite question, "Gerund or gerundive?"

From Time Magazine Archive

Gerund phrase: Flooding the pond made the ice smooth.

From Business English A Practice Book by Buhlig, Rose

Gerund, distinguished from participle and verbal noun, 177. forms of, 176. in syntax, possessive case with, 285.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

In the Gerund and Gerundive of the Third and Fourth Conjugations, the endings -undus, -undī, often occur instead of -endus and -endī, as faciundus, faciundī.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)

These volumes were consequently forbidden, but a publisher at Bayonne reprinted them with a third volume composed of the different essays which had appeared in Spain, either for or against the history of Fray Gerund.

From The History of the Inquisition of Spain from the Time of its Establishment to the Reign of Ferdinand VII. by Llorente, Juan Antonio