| Gerunds are a type of verbal noun, which means that they
function both as nouns and as verbs. Gerunds are used to express the
action of the verb as the process of the action rather than the action
itself. For example, "scribo" means "I
write". The regular verb expresses a subject actually
performing the action. The gerund, "scribendum" is the
abstract "act of writing".
Gerunds are only used in the genitive, dative, accusative and ablative
cases and even then only in certain circumstances (often to express
purpose):
 | Accusative Case: gerunds in the accusative are used
exclusively to express purpose:
 | veni ad vobis succurendum, "I came for the purpose of
helping you". |
|
| Genitive Case: used with words like causa and genus:
| veni vobis succurrendi causa, "I came for the sake of
helping you" (another way of expressing purpose) |
| non est quod contemnas hoc studendi genus, "It is not that
you should look down on this kind of studying". |
|
| Dative Case: used with verbs that would normally take a
dative case noun:
| non satis otii habebo carmina scribendo, "I shall not have
enough free time for composing poems" (with a purpose notion) |
|
| Ablative Case: used to express cause or means:
| celeriter currendo domum ante noctem adveni, "By running
quickly, I returned home before night". |
|
|
Main Index
General Principles
Sentence Structure
Morphology
Skeleton Types
Verbs
Case Usage
Adverbs
Infinitives
Gerunds
Gerundives
Dependent Clauses
Connection
The Book
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Related Topics
Lesson Chapter 50
Infinitive Morphology
Gerund Morphology
Gerundive Morphology
Verban Noun
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