Gerunds and Infinitives

A gerund is the ing form of a verb that functions the same as a noun. In a nutshell, a word formed from a verb acting as a noun and ending in ing is a gerund.

The Eight Parts of Speech

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as more than one part of speech when used in different circumstances. Understanding parts of speech is essential for determining the correct definition of a word when using the dictionary.