gerund
/ˈd͡ʒɛɹənd/
gerund noun: a verbal form that functions as a verbal noun.
Noun
gerund (plural gerunds)
- A verbal form that functions as a verbal noun.
- 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...2002, Dan Mulvey, Grammar the Easy Way, page 25
- In some languages such as Dutch, Italian or Russian, a verbal form similar to a present participle, but functioning as an adverb to form adverbial phrases or continuous tense.
- 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...2013, John Butt, Carmen Benjamin, A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, Kindle edition, Routledge, →ISBN
gerund meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Tagalog
gerund in Hindi
- verb form functioning as a verbal noun
- क्रियावाचक संज्ञा kriyāvācak sañjñā
gerund in Tamil
- தொடரெச்ச வடிவம், செயற்பெயர், தொழிற்பெயர், வினைப்பெயர்
gerund in Urdu
- verb form functioning as a verbal noun
- اِسْمِ مَصْدَر ism-i masdar
gerund in Tagalog
- verb form functioning as a verbal noun
- pandiwang makangalan, pangngalang-diwa
More languagesFewer languages
- gerund in Arabic
- صِيغَةُ فِعْل ṣīḡatu fiʕl, مَصْدَر maṣdar
- gerund in Thai
- อาการนาม aa-gaa-rá-naam, รูปกริยาเป็นนาม
- gerund in Vietnamese
- động danh từ
Examples of gerund in a sentence
- Like any noun, the gerund functions as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or predicate nominative.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.2005, Gary Lutz, Diane Stevenson, The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference, page 55:
Forms of gerund
| plural | gerunds |
|---|
Origin of gerund
Learned borrowing from Latin gerundium, from gerendus (“which is to be carried out”), future passive participle (gerundive) of gerō (“carry, bear”).
Words formed from gerund
Words that rhyme with gerund
Questions about gerund
- What does gerund mean?
- Gerund means a verbal form that functions as a verbal noun.
- What is gerund in Hindi?
- Gerund in Hindi is क्रियावाचक संज्ञा (kriyāvācak sañjñā). See Gerund meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use gerund in a sentence?
- Like any noun, the gerund functions as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or predicate nominative.
- What part of speech is gerund?
- Gerund is a noun.
- How do you pronounce gerund?
- Gerund is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛɹənd/.
- What is the plural of gerund?
- The plural of gerund is gerunds.
Words near gerund in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gerund (page history and authors); gerund (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gerund.wav.
Cite this entry: “gerund.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gerund. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.