Wednesday 3 July 2024, 10:32
Site: Plateforme pédagogique de l'Université Sétif2
Cours: Written Exp_ 1st Year (W.E_L1)
Glossaire: Essential Glossary
G

gerund

When used in conjunction with the progressive aspect auxiliary be, verb forms ending in -ing are progressive participles; in other uses they generally function as gerunds. In particular, -ing verb forms are gerunds when they can be used as subjects, or as complements of verbs or prepositions, and when (in literary styles) they can have a genitive subject  like my. Thus writing is a gerund (verb form) in a sentence such as ‘She was annoyed at [my writing to her mother]’, since the bracketed gerund structure is used as the complement of the preposition at, and has a genitive subject my.