[Grammar] different uses of the gerund in English

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jjimenez61

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Dear friends, I have an article to translate and I do not know if there is a mistake in the original. I might be misunderstanding the intention of the English. I need your help.

The period is the following:

"Taking in knowledge" conveys the idea of an ongoing action, that someone is ‘gaining knowledge.’ "Should keep on knowing" and "should continue knowing" implies a result, that someone has already ‘gained knowledge.’

I do not agree with this declaration. To me, "taking in knowledge" and "should keep on knowing" are equivalent. As far as I understand the gerund as used in these phrases always implies an action. I know there are some times when it can act as a noun, but not in this kind of construction. Am I wrong?

Any help will be appreciated.

JJ


 

a_vee

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This looks like a conflict with the way we use the word "know". Sometimes things translate perfectly, sometimes there's things we don't say because we have something else to do the job. "Taking in knowledge" is strongly associated with education. The verb "know" is more open. It just means to be mentally aware of something.

"Keep on learning" = "Continue taking in knowledge" < These are very typical expressions if you want to use them.

The verb "know" is weak here because the English definition is not the same as it is in other languages. "Keep on knowing" is almost like saying "don't forget", but we almost never use "keep on knowing".
 
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