Anonymous  +  538592 Wed, 09 Jul 08 02:40 AM Hi, I think I heard someone using the words like "poundings" as in "poundings of a heart." Can we make a plural out of a gerund or what CB seemed to have called a verbal noun?    Anonymous Plurals, Nouns, Gerunds

	Mr Wordy  +  538613 Wed, 09 Jul 08 04:08 AM With some verbs, yes. It depends on whether the "-ing" form of the verb is a recognised countable noun. For example, "there was a pounding" is fine, as is "poundings of the heart". On the other hand, "existings" (to pick an example at random) is unnatural because you never talk of "an existing". I'm not sure there's any way to tell which verbs fall into which category except through experience of the language. Mr Wordy Joined on Tue, May 27 2008 Senior Member 2,359 Native British English speaker Verbs, Nouns, Gerunds, Countable Nouns

	CalifJim  +  538638 Wed, 09 Jul 08 07:53 AM Anonymous “Can we make a plural out of a gerund ... ? ” No.  It's not a productive process in English.  Stick to those which already exist, such as those below. awakenings, christenings, comings, coverings, findings, flavorings, furnishings, gatherings, goings, happenings, imaginings, offerings, openings,  renderings, seasonings, sufferings, wanderings, writings  Learn others as you encounter them.  Don't invent new ones indiscriminately.  CJ  CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,439 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Plurals, Gerunds