[Tipster] What Is a Gerund? And Why Should You Care?

The other day, I asked ChatGPT, the AI text language model, “What is a gerund?”

It replied:

“A gerund is a type of verbal noun that is formed by adding '-ing' to a verb. It functions as a noun in a sentence and can be used as the subject, object, or complement of a sentence.”

Boom.

Simple. Clear. Concise.

In its reply, ChatGPT also gave me an example of a gerund:

“For example, in the sentence 'Swimming is my favorite activity,' 'swimming' is a gerund and functions as the subject of the sentence.”

Yep.

I had reached out to ChatGPT because one of the writers whom we coach said, “You know, I need to improve my grammar. Do you know of any good books on grammar?”

I didn’t. None came to mind. It had been years since I read an English grammar.

The Grammar Nazi

Grammar is essential to writing, of course. But there are at least two important principles to know:

First, you don’t need to be a Grammar Nazi to start writing. You just don’t.

Your high school English teacher was a Grammar Nazi, and she wasn’t a great writer. She was just annoying.

Grammar Nazi’s become proofers. And proofers are not writers. They are proofers.

They are essential to one small phase in the publishing of your writing, but not essential to your writing.

Second, on the other hand, if you want to improve the power of your writing, then you may want to study some grammar and the different components of the English language.

I also asked ChatGPT, “When should I not use a gerund?”

It replied:

“When you need to emphasize the action itself. In some cases, using a gerund can make the action seem more general or abstract. If you want to emphasize a specific action, using a verb or an infinitive may be more effective.”

And then it gave me a good example:

“ ‘He stopped to listen’ emphasizes the specific action of stopping in order to listen, while ‘He stopped listening’ may emphasize the general concept of not listening anymore.”

Specific is good, general and abstract, often, are not.

I wish I had ChatGPT in high school.

It's Okay to Learn Some Grammar

So, there are times to use a gerund. And times not to.

But if you don’t know what a gerund is, you may struggle to raise your writing to that next level. Where you are intentional about how you lay down a sentence.

My points are this:

1. Don’t use your lack of grammar knowledge not to write. Just write.
2. And, it’s okay to learn more grammar. Just start small.

Maybe ask ChatGPT, “What is a past participle? And when should I use one in my writing?”

Now, buckle up and write!

Dave Goetz
Cofounder
JourneySixty6