Editing Gerund (section)

==Gerunds in various languages==
Meanings of the term ''gerund'' as used in relation to various languages are listed below.

===Latin and Romance===
[[Latin]] has the non-finite ''gerundium'', formed with ''-andum'', ''-endum'' and noun inflexions. It is syntactically equivalent to a noun, except in the nominative and accusative cases, which use the infinitive. In particular the [[ablative (Latin)|ablative case]] forms (''-ando'', ''-endo'') were used adverbially. Latin grammars written in English use the form ''gerund''.<ref>Palmer 1954</ref> See the section above for further detail.

Several Romance languages have inherited the form, but without [[Grammatical case|case inflections]]. They use it primarily in an adverbial function, comparably to the Latin ablative use. The same form may be used in an adjectival function and to express [[Continuous and progressive aspects|progressive aspect]] meaning. These languages do not use the term ''present participle''. Grammars of these languages written in English may use the form ''gerund''.
:* [[Italian language|Italian]] ''gerundio'': stem form + ''-ando'' or ''-endo''
:*[[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''gerundio'': stem form + ''-ando'' or ''-iendo''
:*[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''gerúndio'': stem form + ''-ando'', ''-endo'' or ''-indo''
:* [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''gerunziu'': stem form + ''-ând(u)'' or ''-ind(u)''
:* [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[French language|French]] have inherited not the gerund form but the Latin present participle form in -nt. 
::* [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''gerundi'': stem form + ''-ant'' or ''-ent''
::* [[French language|French]] stem form + ''-ant''. French grammar maintains a distinction between:
:::*''participe présent'' when the form is used adjectivally, and may be inflected for gender and number.
:::*''gérondif'' when the form is used adverbially, without inflection, generally after the preposition ''en''. In Modern French, the ''gérondif'' cannot be used to express progressive meaning.
:::Grammars of French written in English may use the forms ''gerundive'' and ''present participle''.

===Germanic===
In the earliest stages of the [[West Germanic languages]], the [[infinitive]] was [[Inflection|inflected]] after a preposition. These [[Dative case|dative]] and, more rarely, [[Genitive case|genitive]] case forms are sometimes called ''gerundium'' or ''gerund'' or ''West Germanic gerund''.<ref>Prokosch, E. 1939. ''A Comparative Germanic Grammar''. Philadelphia. Linguistic Society of America for Yale University.</ref><ref>Harbert, Wayne. 2007 ''The Germanic Language''. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|052101511-1}}</ref>
:*[[Old English]] ''to berenne'' (to bear) dative of ''beran''
:*[[Old High German]] ''zi beranne'' dative of ''beran''
:*[[Old Saxon]] ''berannia'' dative of ''beran''
:*[[Old Frisian]] ''beranne''
::* The modern continental successor languages [[German language|German]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] have preserved a few vestiges of these forms, which are sometimes termed ''gerundium''.
::* [[Frisian languages|Frisian]] preserves the original distinction, e.g., [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]] ''freegje'' ("ask") – ''te freegjen''
::* [[English language|English]] has no vestige of the'' West Germanic gerund''. Traditional grammar uses the term ''gerund'' for the ''[[-ing]]'' form of a verb when it is used as a noun (for example, the verb ''reading'' in the sentence "I enjoy reading.").<ref>{{cite web 
| access-date = 2014-03-19| publisher = WordNet 1.7.1| title = Merriam-Websterdefinition| url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gerund| quote = A noun formed from a verb (such as the ''-ing'' form of an English verb when used as a noun).}}</ref> See the sections below for further detail.
:* In [[Dutch language|Dutch]], it translates either the term "[[:nl:Gerundium|gerundium]]" or the description "zelfstandig gebruikte, verbogen onbepaalde wijs van het werkwoord". The infinitive form of the verb is used as gerund, e.g., ''Zwemmen is gezond''.
:* Since [[Afrikaans]] has by and large lost explicit morphological marking of the infinitive form of the verb, verb stems are used as gerunds, e.g., ''Swem is gesond''.

===Slavic===
In descriptions of Slavic languages, the term ''gerund'' refers to verbal forms that are also frequently referred to as ''verbal adverb'', ''adverbial participle'', or (in some Slavic languages) ''deepričastie''. These forms describe circumstances, actions concurrent (''present gerund'') or immediately preceding (''past gerund'') those in the predicate. Morphologically they are uninflected (except in Czech),<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sussex |first1=Roland |author-link=Roland Sussex |last2=Cubberley |first2=Paul |year=2006 |title=The Slavic Languages |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-45728-6 |pages=305–308}}</ref> and syntactically they have an adverbial function, and thus generally bear resemblance to Romance gerunds such as those found in Italian,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Grammatica della lingua serbo-croata (illirica) |last=Budmani |first=Pietro |year=1867 |location=Vienna |publisher=[a spese dell' autore] |pages=239 |url=https://archive.org/details/budmani-grammatica-della-lingua-serbo-croata-illirica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Итальянский язык. Грамматика |last=Эспозито |first=Мария Антония |publisher=Астрель |year=2009 |location=Москва |pages=191 |last2=Ресслер |first2=Вольфганг |translator-last=Ганина |translator-first=Н.А.}}</ref> rather than to noun-like gerunds in English<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The English Gerund as a Subject and its Serbo-Croatian Structural Equivalents |journal=The Yugoslav Serbo-Croatian - English Contrastive Project |last=Bibović |first=Ljiljana |volume=7 |pages=4 |publisher=Institute of Linguistics / Center for Applied Linguistics |year=1973 |editor-last=Filipović |editor-first=Rudolf |location=Zagreb / Washington D.C.}}</ref> or Latin.
* In [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], it translates the term {{Lang|bg|деепричастие}} (deepriʧastije). It refers to the verb noun formed by adding the suffix -{{lang|bg|йки}} (''-jki'') to the verb form, like {{lang|bg|ходи}} (''hodi, he/she/it walks'') – {{lang|bg|ходейки}} (''hodejki, while walking'')
* In [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], it refers to the verb noun formed by adding the suffix -{{lang|mk|јќи}} (''-jḱi'') to the verb form, like in јаде (''jade, he eats'') — {{lang|mk|јадејќи}} (''jadejḱi, while eating'').
* In [[Russian language|Russian]], it translates the term {{lang|ru|деепричастие}} (''dejepričastije'') an adverbial participle formed with the suffixes -{{lang|ru|я}} (''-ja)'' Present; -{{lang|ru|в}} (''-v'') or -{{lang|ru|вши}} (''-vši'') Past.<ref>Using Russian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage, By Derek Offord, page xxiii</ref><ref>Oxford Essential Russian Dictionary, OUP Oxford, 13 May 2010, page 46</ref><ref>{{lang|ru|Улучшим наш русский! Часть 1}}, By {{lang|ru|Дел Филлипс, Наталья Волкова}}, page 171</ref>
* In [[Serbo-Croatian]], it was used to refer to what are now classified as participles / verbal adverbs: present (''-ći'') and past (''-vši'', sometimes ''-v''). Modern grammars rarely use the term.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Gramatika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga književnog jezika |last=Maretić |first=Tomo |publisher=Matica hrvatska |year=1963 |edition=3rd |location=Zagreb |pages=232}}</ref>
Additionally, some linguists use the term to refer to [[verbal noun]]s, historically formed with the [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/-%D1%8Cje *-ьje] suffix,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Słownik prasłowiański. Tom I (A – B) |publisher=Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich / |year=1974 |pages=85 |editor-last=Sławski |editor-first=Franciszek}}</ref> such as Serbo-Croatian {{lang|sh|glȅdānje}} (from {{lang|sh|glȅdati}})<ref>{{Cite book |title=Osnovi morfologije: Prilog gramatici savremenog standardnog jezika |last=Šipka |first=Danko |publisher=Alma |year=2005 |isbn=86-84023-40-4 |location=Beograd |pages=232}}</ref> or Polish {{lang|pl|chodzenie}} (from {{lang|pl|chodzić}}).<ref>{{Cite book |title=Polish: A Comprehensive Grammar |last=Sadowska |first=Iwona |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-415-47540-2 |pages=48}}</ref>

===Other===
* In [[Arabic language|Arabic]], it refers to the verb's action noun, known as the masdar form (Arabic: {{lang|ar|المصدر}}). This form ends in a [[Nunation|tanwin]] and is generally the equivalent of the ''-ing'' ending in English.
* In [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], it refers either to the verb's action noun, or to the part of the [[infinitive]] following the infinitival prefix (also called the ''infinitival construct'').
* In [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], it practically refers to the [[verbal noun]], formed by appending a suffix. Common suffixes are ''-ás'' (adás, giving), ''-és'' (kérés, asking). 
* In [[Japanese language|Japanese]], there are three main grammatical structures with gerund-like functions: first, turning verbs into nouns is achieved, depending on the type of verb and other factors, by using either the [[Japanese conjugation#Conjunctive|conjunctive form]] (''-masu'' form)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Makino |first1=Seiichi |title=A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar |last2=Tsutsui |first2=Michio |date=1995 |publisher=The Japan Times |isbn=978-4-7890-0775-7 |edition=50 |location=Tokyo, Japan |pages=561–563 |chapter=Main Entries: Vmasu as a Noun }}</ref> or the [[nominalization]] particles ''no'' and ''koto''.  Lastly, the [[Continuous and progressive aspects|continuous and progressive aspect]] of a verb can be realized by employing the [[Japanese conjugation#Perfective|perfective form]] ''(-te'' form) plus the auxiliary verb ''iru''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Makino |first1=Seiichi |title=A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar |last2=Tsutsui |first2=Michio |date=1989 |publisher=The Japan Times |isbn=978-47-89004-54-1 |edition=80 |location=Tokyo, Japan |pages=156, 193, 318–320 }}</ref>
* In [[Korean language|Korean]], it refers to the word '것' ('thing') modified by the adjective form of the verb.
* In [[Maldivian language|Maldivian (Dhivehi)]], the gerund is the root form of the verb, for example, {{lang|dv|ނެށުން}} {{Transliteration|dv|neshun}}, meaning "dancing".
* In [[Persian language|Persian]], it refers to the verb's action noun, known as the ism-masdar form (Persian: {{lang|fa|اسم مصدر}}).
* In [[Turkish language|Turkish]], it refers to a large number of verb endings subject to [[vowel harmony]] and sometimes used in conjunction with postpositions. Called ''zarf-fiil'', ''bağ-fiil'', ''ulaç'' or ''gerundium''<ref>Ergin, Muharrem. ''Üniversiteler İçin Türk Dili.'' s. 310. İstanbul: Bayrak Yayım, 2009.</ref> and defined as "a verb used as an adverb in a sentence", the Turkish gerund may also constitute part of an (adverbial) clause.

In other languages, it may refer to almost any non-finite verb form; however, it most often refers to an action noun, by analogy with its use as applied to Latin.