gerund – English noun declension

English noun forms of gerund

Noun: gerund
Singulargerund
Pluralgerunds

Sample Sentences

  • Compounds in which gerunds are the second element look exactly like compounds in which present participles are the second element, but different principles of hyphenation apply. [1991, Edward Johnson, The Handbook of Good English, page 208:]
  • Like any noun, the gerund functions as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or predicate nominative. The gerund phrase is made up of the present participle ("-ing") and can contain an object and/or a modifier (and sometimes many modifiers). The gerund is a verbal noun. [2002, Dan Mulvey, Grammar the Easy Way, page 25:]
  • Gerunds and gerund phrases are always nouns, so they are always predicate nominatives when used as complements. Do be careful to distinguish progressive-tense verbs from gerunds used as subjective complements. [2005, Gary Lutz, Diane Stevenson, The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference, page 55:]
  • The Spanish gerund is quite unlike the English -ing form (‘walking’, ‘replying’, ‘saying’, etc.), which can function as a gerund, a present participle, a noun or an adjective; and it is also unlike the French form ending in -ant, which covers the functions of both the Spanish gerund and the adjectival form in -ante, -(i)ente discussed at 19.4. [2013, John Butt, Carmen Benjamin, A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, Kindle edition, Routledge, →ISBN:]

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin gerundium, from gerendus (“which is to be carried out”), future passive participle (gerundive) of gerō (“carry, bear”).

Verbs referencing "gerund"

Finnish Nouns gerundi.