grammatical structures

[smithsruleok]

In the statement 'He stopped smoking cigarettes', what is the grammatical structure of smoking? I thought it was the verb smoke in it's -ing form but apparently it's not.

 

[MASM]

In the statement 'He stopped smoking cigarettes', what is the grammatical structure of smoking? I thought it was the verb smoke in it's -ing form but apparently it's not.

I'd say it is acting as a noun but still being a verb with its own object like in "I hate packing suitcases".