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verbal nouns

Hi,

Which word in the sentence is a verbal noun and why?

Shopping can be very boring when your feet are hurting and your money is running out.

Re: verbal nouns

Hi James,

Shopping can be very boring when your feet are hurting and your money is running out.

"Shopping" is the subject of the sentence (it controls the verb "can be") and subjects are usually nouns, so we can tell that "shopping" must be a verbal noun, a verb which functions like a noun.

Verbal nouns, or gerunds as they are sometime called, can be subject as in your example, or object of a verb ("I like shopping") or object of a preposition ("I know a lot about shopping").

Take a look at this sentence:

Swimming/walking/photography/carpentry are all great fun.

Notice how "swimming" and "walking", just as much as the 'real' nouns "photography" and "carpentry", are controlling the verb "are". That proves that "swimming" and "walking" are verbal nouns.

Does that help?


PaulM

Re: verbal nouns

Hi Paul,

Even alone, a gerund itself can be a non-finite clause which could feature in catenative (and other) constructions, as “swimming” does in “I like swimming”. So, when should we analyse them as mere nouns and when as non-finite clauses? For my eyes, they should always be analysed as non-finite clauses which have a range of functions that is somewhat similar to what nouns do.

Is it okay?

Re: verbal nouns

"I like swimming" is strictly speaking ambiguous; it could be a verb (cf. "I like to swim") or a noun as in "I like occasional swimming".

Yes, gerund-participials can be clauses, sometimes catenative, and sometimes not.

Most students in the early stages of their studies are not taught catenatives, so it's always difficult to advise without contradicting their teachers. I prefer the catenative analysis where it is applicable, but as I said "I like swimming" is ambiguous, and sometimes it is better to teach it as noun to beginners.



PaulM

Re: verbal nouns

Thanks Paul.