ger|und «JEHR uhnd», noun.
1. English Grammar. a verb form ending in -ing and used as a noun. In “Watching him carefully was hard work,” watching is a gerund. See the usage note below.
2. Latin Grammar. a form of the verb occurring as a noun in all cases except the nominative. Abbr: ger.
╂[< Late Latin gerundium < Latin gerundum, gerund of gerere to bear]
Usage The English gerund ends in -ing. It has the same form as the present participle but differs in use. Gerund: »
“Running” a hotel appealed to him.
Participle: »“Running” around the corner, he bumped into a cop.
A gerund may take an object (»running a hotel
) or a complement (»being a hero
) and it may serve in any of the functions of a noun: Subject: »“Looking” for an apartment always fascinated her.
Object: »He taught “dancing.”
Predicate noun: »Seeing is “believing.”
Adjective use: »a “fishing” boat (a boat for fishing, not a boat that fishes).
When not in one of these constructions a gerund is related to the rest of the sentence by a preposition: »By “running,” I was able to catch the bus.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.