Gerunds!!

[2006]

I had serious reservations about the initial answer but wanted to check with a grammar expert before saying anything. My local expert confirmed that "stealing" is a gerund in the sentence in question, and he offered that "stealing food", the gerund plus its object, could be replaced by the noun 'murder'. It could also be replaced by 'a crime', 'theft' or just 'stealing'.

Gerunds and present participles are different, with gerunds functioning as nouns and particples functioning as adjectives.

[vil]

Hi IvanV,

First and foremost I am obliged to inform you that the name om my father is Ivan, as well as the name of my son and my grandchild are likewise Ivan. Thence you could arrive at a conclusion that we are closely related.

It's most likely, you couldn't catch a note of my Aesop's manner of expression in my previous post.

Unfortunately, I am a humble self-educated learner, who has been studying English language for a few years so I am deficient in self-confidence. And yet, in defiance of reason, I am enough active and more often than not I cut into different disputes, that is to say, I struck in with my personal remarks and suggestion time an again very different from other. For the sake of my natural aptitude for assertive intervention and hard receptive invention I am not a favorite of many teachers and NES'.

By the way, do you know that behind your cause took your side such names as Stone, Clooney, Gear, Al Pacino, O'Connor etc?

Regards.

V.

[IvanV]

First and foremost I am obliged to inform you that the name om my father is Ivan, as well as the name of my son and my grandchild are likewise Ivan. Thence you could arrive at a conclusion that we are closely related.

It'm very pleased to hear that!

Unfortunately, I am a humble self-educated learner, who has been studying English language for a few years so I am deficient in self-confidence. And yet, in defiance of reason, I am enough active and more often than not I cut into different disputes, that is to say, I struck in with my personal remarks and suggestion time an again very different from other. For the sake of my natural aptitude for assertive intervention and hard receptive invention I am not a favorite of many teachers and NES'.

Self-confidence --- work on it, that's all I say!

By the way, do you know that behind your cause took your side such names as Stone, Clooney, Gear, Al Pacino, O'Connor etc?

I'm not sure I follow...