In linguistics, a gerund (/ˈdʒɛrənd, -ʌnd/[1] abbreviated ger) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, it is one that functions as a noun.
In English, the gerund has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifiable by an adverb and being able to take a direct object.
The Latin gerund, in a restricted set of syntactic contexts, denotes the sense of the verb in isolation after certain prepositions, and in certain uses of the genitive, dative, and ablative cases.
Thus, English grammar uses gerund to mean an -ing form used in non-finite clauses such as playing on computers.
Additionally, some linguists use the term to refer to verbal nouns, historically formed with the *-ьje suffix,[18] such as Serbo-Croatian glȅdānje (from glȅdati)[19] or Polish chodzenie (from chodzić).
The entire clause eating this cake is then used as a noun, which in this case serves as the subject of the larger sentence.
(Traditionally, such an item would be referred to as a phrase, but in modern linguistics it has become common to call it a clause.)
In traditional grammars, gerunds are distinguished from other uses of a verb's -ing form: the present participle (which is a non-finite verb form like the gerund, but is adjectival or adverbial in function), and the pure verbal noun or deverbal noun.
The distinction between gerund and present participles is not recognised in modern reference grammars, since many uses are ambiguous.
Works of fiction show a moderate frequency, but the construction is highly infrequent in other types of text.
[28] Prescriptivists do not object when the non-finite clause modifies a noun phrase The sense of the cat as notional subject of licking is disregarded.
Rather they see the cat as exclusively the object of I saw The modifying phrase licking the cream is therefore described as a participle use.
[30] It has been argued that if the prescriptive rule is followed, the difference between the two forms may be used to make a slight distinction in meaning: However, Quirk et al. show that the range of senses of -ing forms with possessive and non-possessive subjects is far more diverse and nuanced:[31] These sentence exemplify a spectrum of senses from more noun-like to more verb-like.
In some cases, particularly with a non-personal subject, the use of the possessive before a gerund may be considered redundant even in quite a formal register.
The term gerund describes certain uses of -ing clauses as 'complementation' of individual English verbs, that is to say the choice of class that are allowable after that word.
[33] The present-day result of these developments is that the verbs followed by -ing forms tend to fall into semantic classes.
In the following groups, the senses are inseparable, jointly expressing a single complex action or state.
[35] Verbs with this pattern do not normally allow the 'subject' of the -ing clause to be used in an equivalent passive construction such as *She is remembered coming.
In contrast to Pattern 4b, these verbs allow the 'subject' of the -ing clauses to be used in an equivalent passive construction such as She was kept coming.
Like the -ing suffix, the to-infinitive spread historically from a narrow original use, a prepositional phrase referring to future time.