In Speaking English^x, Nouns^x

hi cb, its me again!how do you feel about possessives before a gerund? "John's singing bothered me". You are constantly told that the possessive should be used before a gerund(unless you are saying something weird and you wish to emphasise the subject of the gerund). However,...

Hi, Thank you.You said: The speaking of English is easy. (A verbal noun and because speaking is a noun, the is posible before it. Even an adjectival attribute can be used: The correct speaking of English is easy.) Speaking English is easy. (A gerund, which to my mind is neither a verb nor a noun...

You'll have to wait for RayH's explanation for his preferences. He heard a fearful wailing of a dog is fine grammatically but it does suggest that you may hear different kinds of wailings of a dog and therefore the sentence may sound odd to some. The plural dogs simply indicates that...

Please read my reply to CalifJim. Terminology varies. I know - at least I think I know - that in America the gerund is considered a noun. Europe views it differently; it is neither a noun nor a verb, it is a cross between them. All nouns can have an adjectival attribute, gerunds cannot:...

I am not sure if the following answers your question but I'll say it anyway. Some grammarians don't distinguish between verbal nouns (= complete nouns formed from verbs with the ing ending) and gerunds (= words that are neither verbs nor nouns but resemble both to some extent). Some...

Dear teachers , I read an article written in English on education , and I don't understand the noun " charges " in the sentence below: " Overcrowded classrooms also mean that students will have little chance to practise listening and speaking English. As Hanna Floyd says:...

Hi,#1. Since accent is a countable noun, we need 'a' for both heavy accent and heavier accent.#2. I prefer 'hesitancy in responding'.Besides the above comments, both sentences have a run-on problem. There are more than one way to reword them; and here is my suggestion:Student1 had...

Hi, This is how I was taught. The terminology can be confusing. I was taught that gerund is the noun form of a verb. Although it’ not a real noun by definition, it functions like one. Another confusing aspect of the “ing” form is that, it’s often mixed up with participle and gerund. i.e. I...

Grammar Geek wrote:Singing is a gerund, a noun, so it takes the possessive my. This is rather peculiar, I think. I have encountered the same thing on these forums many times. Native speakers say: "A gerund is a noun." Do they teach it that way in American schools and universities? Grammatical...