{"id":3603,"date":"2005-02-11T14:07:09","date_gmt":"2005-02-11T18:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/02\/11\/just-ing-ing-around\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:57:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:57:59","slug":"just-ing-ing-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/02\/11\/just-ing-ing-around\/","title":{"rendered":"just ing-ing around"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Before a zealous reader draws my attention to the mistake, I want to admit that<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Prof. Martin Grace and I were <\/FONT>using the term “gerund” sloppily<\/FONT><\/A> yesterday.  Because <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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this <\/FONT>confusion appears widespread, even among the educated class,  I thought I’d <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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attempt a brief explication.<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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A <\/FONT>gerund<\/EM><\/FONT><\/A> is a verbal noun — <\/EM>As the American Heritage Dictionary<\/EM> <\/FONT>states<\/FONT><\/A>:    \"fedupskiF\"<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Gerund: 1.<\/STRONG> In Latin, a noun derived from a verb and having all case forms except <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the nominative. 2.<\/B> In other languages, a verbal noun analogous to the Latin <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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gerund, such as the English form ending in -ing<\/I> when used as a noun, as in <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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singing<\/I> in We admired the choir’s singing.<\/I> <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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A <\/FONT>particple<\/EM><\/FONT><\/A> is “A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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independently as an adjective<\/EM>.”<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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As is noted in <\/FONT>Wikipedia<\/FONT><\/A>:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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The term “gerund” is sometimes used incorrectly to mean any word <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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ending with “ing”.   For example:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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