Questions tagged [gerunds]
A ɢᴇʀᴜɴᴅ is a type of verb, in particular an -ɪɴɢ verb that heads a non-finite verb clause when that entire clause is being used as a noun phrase, typically as the subject or object of a finite clause. Not to be confused with -ɪɴɢ words that are no longer verbs, like deverbal nouns or participial adjectives, a gerund accepts only verb modifiers and arguments, not those of nouns or adjectives.
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is an apostrophe necessary for the gerund in this phrase? ('within 12 months of proceedings' commencing')
within 12 months of proceedings commencing.
OR
within 12 months of proceedings' commencing.
It seems to me that commencing is a gerund (noun) which is 'owned by' the proceedings. As in, 'within 12 ...
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What's the correct answer to the question? changing or to change?
The following is a question from an English test. Which form is correct, changing or to change?
Agriculture gave people their first experience of the power of technology _______ (change) lives.
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much less + (verb)ing (gerund) agreement/concord
Do I need to make sure the gerunds match in the following sentence:
There is not much attention paid to really examining what constitutes this notion, much less scrutinizing the received criteria for ...
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Which verb form to use after "limits itself to"?
I am wondering about the correct verb form to use here:
This article limits itself to consider...
or
This article limits itself to considering...
For this example both sound dubious to me (...
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Is "Being rich and being famous" singular or plural? [duplicate]
Being rich and famous certainly has/have some advantages.
Being rich and being famous certainly has/have some advantages.
Being enormous and being made of rare materials is/are why this throne is so ...
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adjective vs adverb for a gerund
This sentence occurs in Wikipedia:
The method of voting can range from formal submission of written votes, through show of hands, voice voting or audience response systems, to informal noting which ...
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Cease doing/to do [closed]
Could you say if cease can be used with both infinitives and gerunds. I first searched for some examples via Reverso Context, and there are examples with both gerunds and infinitives, so I want to ...
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Noun subject followed directly by a V-ing in the where clause without "be" [duplicate]
On the Wikipedia page for "Team error", I found this text:
Halo Effect – Immediate judgment discrepancy or cognitive bias, where a person making an initial assessment will assume the ...
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Does consider change all verbs to gerund until the end of the sentence? [closed]
Take this sentence as an example:
You may want to consider placing the money in a more conservative
portfolio and move on with life.
The expression "move on with life" is fine by itself, ...
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-ing word as modifier of a noun: Verb or attributive/deverbal Noun?
Note: I sat on this question for quite some time, but after wracking my brain on it for quite a while, I finally caved and decided to ask it as a question.
When I say “dining room,” most people, I ...
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Can a gerund immediately follow a present participle? [duplicate]
For example:
“Academic integrity violations include any action involving distributing course materials to others.”
I understand “involving” to be a present participle, because it functions as an ...
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"Used to play" or "was used to playing"? [closed]
In the answer he says 'used to play' means I played something in the past but not anymore, yet 'was used to playing' means a habitual activity but had changed some way.
For me, as a non-native English ...
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What is the difference between a "gerund" and a "true noun"? [duplicate]
Wiktionary shows this:
-ing
Used to form nouns or noun-like words (or elements of noun phrases) from verbs, denoting the act of doing something, an action, or the embodiment of an action.
As true ...
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Possessive pronoun + gerund confusion
I am confused over whether the following sentence contains a gerund and, therefore, whether I can precede that gerund with a possessive pronoun:
"I can't prevent your being offended."
Is &...
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In the sentence "He doesn't like people telling him what to do" why is there a Gerund after people and not an infinitve?
Forgive me if this has already been answered. I've searched similar questions and only saw this The object of "I don't like people telling me what to do"? which doesn't answer my ...
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Gerund as a passive adjective [closed]
I have a question about using a gerund as an adjective for a noun. I think the right name is "Present-Participial Adjectives
". I want to refer to a "material" that is being "...
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Difference between "like to go ..." and "like going..."
Is there any difference in meaning or implication between the following sentences?
I like to go to the beach when I'm on holiday.
I like going to the beach when I'm on holiday.
Some internet sites ...
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Use of ing versus which + verb
I cannot find a grammar rule telling me when I should use which/that+verb and when gerund in subordinate sentences. Practically, for instance, consider these two sentences:
a) An approach that ...
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The difference in meaning between to infinitive and gerund in these sentences
I saw some examples in a paper on gerund and infinitive as follows.
... deciding whether to use a gerund or an infinitive
after a verb can be perplexing among students for whom English is a second ...
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What Verbs can Gerunds Follow?
Throughout my life, I have relied on intuition to ensure that my sentences are intelligible and grammatical. I like using gerunds because they can shorten sentences and avoid redundancy. Recently, ...
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Possessives with gerunds
When a phrase, such as “doing something” is used used as a noun, I understand it becomes a gerund phrase. When it includes a pronoun subject, the phrase becomes a clause, in which the pronoun ...
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Writing emails is difficult vs Writing emails are difficult [duplicate]
'Writing emails is difficult' vs 'Writing emails are difficult'.
Which one is correct? And why?
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Don't worry about YOU being alone or YOUR being alone? [duplicate]
Can't stop wondering what the correct option is.
Or are they both correct, and the latter just sounds more formal?
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In formal writing such as a reference, can an initial subject defining sentence imply the subject to several sentences thereafter? [closed]
I am writing a personal reference for a family member and trying to list several ways in which they have helped me without the sentence running on. I do not believe a colon would work in this case as ...
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"Ask questions of the past raised" or "Ask the past the questions raised"?
I read a following sentence:
[Yet the stories they tell avoid any evolutionary model of progress, as well as any systematic critique. I want to outline, however rapidly, the history of the present ...
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What is this grammar formation called and how is it used ' to + verb + ing ' [duplicate]
A student gave me this example:
...doesn't have an objection in principle to using the Consulting Agreement dated...
She wanted to know how to use this construction (to + verb + ing) and what it is ...
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What is the plural form of boxing (as in box/package)?
What is the plural form of the word "boxing"? In meaning box/package noun. Is "boxings" the correct form in that case? Perhaps it's not, because it's a gerund and not an exception.
...
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Go doing or Go to do something [closed]
Is there a difference between
"I am going cycling."
and
"I am going to cycle."
Assuming that I'm at home right now and I'm informing everyone here that I'm leaving the house to ...
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0
answers
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Interpretation of subjects of gerunds
A paper on the implicit subjects of gerunds that I'm currently reading says that the sentences (1a) and (2a) sound off because John, though semantically appropriate, cannot be the antecedent for the ...
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Passive structure with gerund [closed]
I was asked to convert the following active sentence into passive:
I admit taking the money without permission from his mom.
My first suggestion was:
It is admitted that the money has been taken ...
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Participle or Gerund? [duplicate]
Is “ferrying” in the following passage a gerund or a present participle?
In March 2016, Zipline, a U.S. startup partnered with the Rwandan government to launch the world’s first commercial drone ...
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He doesn't like me/my spending time with her [duplicate]
What should precede a gerund in a sentence ?
A possessive pronoun or object pronoun.
For eg:- He doesn't like me/my spending time with her.
Which, out of me and my,is correct ?
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To help and gerund clauses
I've reached an impasse with my girlfriend (both non-native speakers) about this sentence she used:
Maybe we didn't have enough of it for it to become routine again and help measuring time
To me, ...
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How to analyze e.g., "The man had trouble finding shoes to fit"
In a sentence like "The man had trouble finding shoes to fit," how might "had trouble finding shoes to fit" be analyzed? Is this like a direct object ("trouble") and ...
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The difference between "need + infinitive" and "need + gerund"
What is the difference between
"I don't need to learn."
And
"I don't need learning."?
It is said that "need + gerund" is passive, meaning what "I don't need learning&...
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Confusion with pronouns proceeding gerunds
In The Stranger, we have the following passage.
So we took our time getting back, him telling me how glad he was that he'd been able to give the woman what she deserved.
I understand the meaning, ...
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Gerund and infinitive both possible after main verb “start” but not always? [duplicate]
What is going on here?
It started to rain.
It started raining.
Both are OK to my ear when start is in the simple past. But then…
It is starting to rain. (OK)
It is starting raining (obviously wrong!)
...
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Is this a gerund phrase after hate?
"I hate not being able to control my temper."
From my understanding, hate is one of those verbs that is followed by a gerund OR an infinitive. In this situation, is "being" a ...
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Which is (more) correct? [duplicate]
Why don't you try [to speak OR speaking] to him in Spanish? ...
Which variant is more correct and why?
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What is the word class of "studying" in "studying hard is the key to success"?
This has caused some debate amongst myself and some others. The two claims are that in "studying hard is the key to success", that "studying" is either (1) a noun (gerund) or (2) a ...
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Is there a limit for the number of relative/dependent clauses in a sentence?
I need to correct the following sentence:
The article is proving the thesis of shame as a feeling that functions
as a bond between people, by presenting a historical analysis of this
feeling in three ...
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Bare infinitive or present participle? [closed]
Which of the following two sentences is correct? The one that uses the bare infinitive 'hear', or the one that uses the present participle 'hearing'?
He heard him snore last night.
Or
He heard him ...
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Do “because so-and-so claims that” and “claiming that” have the same meaning?
First, I would like to give an example.
She filed a complaint to the committee because she claims that her personal information was leaked.
She filed a complaint to the committee claiming that her ...
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God's existing vs God's existence [duplicate]
Can we say something like "I am thankful for God's existing" rather than "...thankful for God's existence?"
Why do we never hear this?
I am thinking along the lines of: "She ...
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What kind of noun is "Bookkeeping"?
It's not a gerund since "bookkeep" isn't a verb, is it?
Is "bookkeep" a verb?
Please, can someone help me understand the properties of this word? Is it, for example, a compound ...
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Which/ That/ Present Participle
I'm working on the translation of a product packaging.
Uses:
Boosting liver function which helps cleanse blood plasma, the liquid portion of blood which/that accounts for 55% of its volume.
Would it ...
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Why is "ing" used in the following sentence?
" meaning basically can they prevent the other team from scoring "
Yet I'm sure this is not progressive present. So why do we put "ing" after "scor" ?
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Question about parallel structures
One of the tasks that we have to do on PTE exam is to paraphrase a writtent text. I have prepared a template for myslef which is
While the impacts of N and N such as N and N are important, the effects ...
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to transcend or to be transcended
"In basic terms, transculturalism might be provisionally defined as the transcendence and questioning of cultural delimitations."
What is meant in the text I'm working on is that ...
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What are the subjects, objects, complements and gerunds in this sentence?
As with most great avant artists, it’s easier to describe how Arca makes you feel than what it is, exactly, she makes.
Just wanted clarification on a few things. What is the first part of the ...
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