gerund or noun

[pucubuwi]

whats a gerund and whats the difference between gerund and noun? thanks~

[Mister Micawber]

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A gerund is an -ing verb form used as a noun: Skiing is dangerous.
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[Nguyen Tuyet]

Originally Posted by pucubuwi

whats a gerund and whats the difference between gerund and noun? thanks~

In the funtional of grammar, gerund act as a noun. That mean, it can be used as subject:
ex: eating out is very interesting.
It can be used as an object
ex: We enjoy playing football very much
it is used after a preposition
ex: I am interested in teaching english
But I think the main diffirence is that the way to form a gerund and a noun.

[Mariner]

Ok, perhaps I'm complicating things now, but...

The term "gerund" is not used by modern grammars; the term "-ing clause" is preferred. The reason?

Take the example:

Being an only child, she felt lonely.

In this sentence, "being an only child" is a clause (non-finite, for the advanced learners). It's a rather dangerous game to start seeing -ing as something similar to nour .

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Mariner

Ok, perhaps I'm complicating things now, but...

The term "gerund" is not used by modern grammars; the term "-ing clause" is preferred. The reason?

Take the example:

Being an only child, she felt lonely.

In this sentence, "being an only child" is a clause (non-finite, for the advanced learners). It's a rather dangerous game to start seeing -ing as something similar to nour .

That is a point of view, but it surely is not universal.

The word "gerund" is firmly embedded in English language teaching. What I think is dangerous is developing a system in which one does not differentiate gerunds from participles. In your sentence, "being" is a participle, not a gerund. And many (probably most) would call it an adjectival participial phrase. I am familiar with the "non-finite clause" viewpoint, but I don't prefer it.