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[DoUEnglish]

Often the English language can be muddled, misunderstood, or confused due to cultural differences, nuances, or colloquial expressions. This blog celebrates the craziness of English in all its forms, and shares some of the funny, witty, and amusing anecdotes that arise from its teachings. If you�re bored between classes, and would like something pithy to read, check it out!

http://douenglish.blogspot.com/

[johnslat]

Dear DoUEnglish,

Umm, problems here:


Gerund Pick-up Lines at the Bar (Good Luck!)

1. Do you feel like going back to my place?
2, Is there an airport nearby or is that just my heart taking off?
3. I can't help falling in love with you!
4. When God made you, he was showing off.
5. Do you have a map? I'm getting lost in your eyes.
6. Smoking is hazardous to your health... and baby, you're killing me!
7. Somebody better call God, and notify heaven there's a missing angel!
8, Wouldn't we look cute on a wedding cake together?
9. I must be dancing with the devil, because you're hot as hell.
10,Can I buy you a drink or do you just want the money? (No gerund, I just think that's funny.)

1. OK 2. "taking off" is a present participle adjective, modifying "heart" - not a gerund. 3. OK 4. "was showing off" is the past continuous tense, not a gerund 5. "am getting" is the present continuous again, not a gerund 6. "are killing is also present continuous, not a gerund (but "Smoking" is OK) 7. "missing" is a present participle adjective, modifying "angel" - not a gerund 8. "wedding' is also a present participle adjective, modifying "cake" - not a gerund. 9. "must be dancing" is the present continuous - not a gerund.

In context, gerunds must be subjects, objects of a verb, objects of a preposition, or complements.

Regards,
John

[johntpartee]

[spiral78]

Ditto 'they must be dancing.' The verb ending is used in this case as a time marker to indicate that the action is going on now.

There is a significant distinction between "they must be dancing" (now) and "they must like dancing."

The major distinction is that when the 'ing' ending indicates time periods.

[johntpartee]

I was just reading the Wikipedia entry for "gerund". Lots of wiggle room.

[spiral78]

There's always lots of wiggle room in Wiki entries; that's why they're not accepted in academic writing in most situations.

Gerunds can occur in lots of contexts, but their 'ing' ending doesn't relate to time.

[Sashadroogie]

Time. Aspect. Wiggling!!!!

[spiral78]

[DoUEnglish]

Thanks for all the input! Like I mention on the blog, I'm no grammarian but enjoy a good discussion of English grammar.

Anyway, I was up late when I posted this and a bit of a zombie, but that's no excuse. So I've thrown out all the present participle adjectives, as well as the continuous, changed number 4 so that it's the subject of the sentence, added a new line that's a gerund clause, and made number 9 into the direct object.

Let me know if there are any other thoughts. And if you have any interesting quibbles about English, email me and I'll share.

Cheers!

Damn you GERUNDS!!!

[Glenski]

4. When God made you, he was showing off.
5. Do you have a map? I'm getting lost in your eyes.
6. Smoking is hazardous to your health... and baby, you're killing me!
9. I must be dancing with the devil, because you're hot as hell.

These 4 are not being used as nouns, so in a strict sense they are not gerunds. In fact, they are verbs here.

7. Somebody better call God, and notify heaven there's a missing angel!
8, Wouldn't we look cute on a wedding cake together?

Adjective use.

As for 1-3, it's to early in the morning to discuss them, but I believe only 1 and 3 are gerunds because of their noun usage.

[johnslat]

Wiki's not too bad, but I did spot this error:

"I am going to the swimming pool. (noun functioning adjectivally before another noun -- contrast with I saw the swimming dolphins, in which "swimming" is a participle, not a gerund)

In the phrase " . . . to the swimming pool," the word "swimming" is NOT a gerund; it's a present participle adjective telling what kind of pool.

Usually, when the present participle adjective is used, the noun that it describes is DOING the action (e.g. the running man, a confusing problem.)
It has an "active aspect/present time" This contrasts with the past participle adjective, which has a "passive aspect/past time" - the adjective was done to the noun (e.g. the stolen money, the broken window.)
However, there are some cases when the noun that the present participle adjective is describing is NOT doing the action, as with "swimming pool,"
"reading glasses," etc.

But what makes a word the part of speech that it is in context is based on the job it is doing in the sentence. Gerunds do the same jobs that nouns and pronouns do: subject, object of the verb, object of the preposition, indirect object, and complement.

If a verb form ending in -ing is doing one of those jobs, it's a gerund. Present participles ending in -ing that describe a noun are doing the same job as adjectives.

Regards,
Wiggling (present participle adjective) John

[artemisia]

[johnslat]

Dear artemisia,

Oh, nicely played .

Regards,
John

[Sashadroogie]

[Sashadroogie]

Anyway, I have always valued Swan's advice on this matter:

4 'participles' and 'gerunds': an unclear difference

The distinction between 'participles' and 'gerunds' is not always clear-cut, and
it can sometimes be difficult to decide which term to use. For this reason,
some grammarians prefer to avoid the terms 'participle' and 'gerund'. For a
detailed discussion of this point, see Section 17.54 of A Comprehensive
Grammar of the English Language, by Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik
(Longrnan 1985).

- from Practical English Usage, pp 270.