h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And revision books are not always right. I refuse to endorse BBC Bitesize to my pupils on account of the multifarious errors I've come across.

B

Well that's a relief! (unless you're trying to study grammar from an 11+ revision book, that is )

So... what's the difference between a gerund and a present participle, because I was always led to believe that they were the same thing (and I'll find and burn the book that said they were...)

A gerund is the 'ing' form that acts as a noun.

Swimming is good for you.

A present participle is the 'ing' form that is a part of a compound verb.

She is swimming in the lake right now. (is swimming - present continuous)



az

The dog's barking



....has 2 meanings

A gerund is a verb used as a noun.

"Purring is a sign that your cat likes you" is a gerund - 'purring'

"If your cat likes you, she will be purring" is a present participle.

The barking dog has no gerund.

B

mad and furiously

True.

The dog's barking was driving me crazy. Barking - gerund (noun).

The dog's barking loudly. Barking - participle (verb)


az

Which is what az said.

B

Have you ever come across any book, of any sort, that is 100% correct? I regularly find mistakes in books which are supposedly of fact.

My Childcraft encyclopaedia gave the best description of orbits I have ever seen in one volume. In another volume there was a picture of an astronau t floating above the earth. "The spaceman is so far from the earth that he does not feel the earth's gravity".

There's a mistake on the first page! of my "The Calendar" book, even though the rest of seems to be right to me.

My mathematical book on "Knots" has diagrams that are wrong, mistakes in equations and even places where the author has gone off on completely the wrong track.

Lots of simulposts.

B

Hmm... so:

Swimming quickly is very good for you.
Purring loudly is a sign that your cat really likes you.

Are 'quickly' and 'loudly' adverbs or adjectives?

(I think it was my 'teach yourself Portuguese' book that had the sentence "The present participle is also known as the gerund" in it )

Now we know who Lynn Truss' "sticklers" really are, eh?

Post 31 - both adverbs.

B

did the dog barking loudly keep you up at night? Someone on my road had a car alarm that just wouldn't stop last night and that kept me awake. pronouns

Its the end of the sentence and also its the bit that means that the dogs actions will be annoying as it indicates that you can hear the dog

Good question, Danny B.

I think that I'd still call 'quickly' and 'loudly' adverbs as they describe a gerund form of a noun, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I'll have a look in my grammar books and check (and hope they're right! ).

In Spanish they call both the present participle and gerunds the 'gerundio'. They don't have a separate term for each. Probably the same in Portuguese.


az

Anything ending in -ly is an adverb.

Tries furiously to think of exceptions...

silly - adjective

Revises rule. If you add -ly to an adjective to make a new word, what you've got is an adverb.

So, to sum up...

1. In the sentence 'The dog was barking loudly', 'loudly' is an ADVERB*
2. The gerund is NOT the same thing as the present participle.
3. Revision books are a waste of time
4. H2G2 is the only place to get accurate information from helpful experts

Right - I'm going back to being a scientist



*which I said in the first place and should have stayed shtum thereafter

<>

Um, no. There are several adjectives that end in 'ly'. Costly, cowardly, deadly, friendly, likely, lively, lonely, lovely, silly, ugly . . .

I couldn't find an exact example or explanation for 'Swimming quickly is good for you' but I still think they would be adverbs in this case because they are describing a gerund and not a noun.


az

Sorry, *it* would be an adverb, not *they* (was thinking about both the examples of 'quickly' and 'loudly').


az