Gerund
In
linguistics, and in particular the context of
grammar, a
gerund is a present participle verb which acts as a
noun by adding -ing to the end. Some grammarians, however, refer to these as verbal nouns ending in
-ing, for example Sidney Greenbaum in
An Introduction to English Grammar (1991).
For example:
The term "gerund" is sometimes used incorrectly to mean any word ending with "ing". For example:
- Jane was swimming in the sea. (The participle verb here functions as an adjective and is not a true gerund.)