I have been seeing an increasing amount of traffic from (what I can only assume are) students searching for “lists of various nouns” or “various gerunds.”
I chose the blog title WAAAAAYYYYY back in the day, before any of the posts now visible were written, and it referred to the movie “Adventures in Babysitting.” All of my post titles fit into the “Adventures in (something or other)” style, and all are either a noun or a gerund. But, it’s really just a secret nerdy joy that I have, not anything else. I did spend several years as a copy-editor and reviser of other people’s writing.
So, while my blog is certainly not dedicated to grammar, nor is it 100% grammatically correct (I favor a conversational tone over an accurate grammar), I am posting a list of nouns and gerunds today… for the benefit of those few lost souls who stumbled here and found only posts about Dhaka.
| Nouns | Gerunds |
|---|---|
| House Car Potato Aloe Dog Epilepsy Hope Notebook Airplane Sitcom Candle Student Dragon Movie Dhaka Government Machine Photograph Integrity Ficus Snooker Snookie Nookie California Parliament Restaurant |
Running Communicating Revolving Hoping Decaying Voting Praying Paying Playing Eating Dreaming Typing Sitting Working Listening Excreting Smoldering Beguiling Spelling Pontificating Directing Loving Whetting Wetting Fretting Bathing |
But… these nouns are both concrete and abstract, and some used to be verbs but we use them as nouns. Yep. Oh well. It’s my list, I am including whatever strikes my fancy.
What is not a gerund? Lots of other things that end in -ing… but are used to describe nouns rather than act as non-finite verbs. Confusingly enough, you can use some of these gerunds as adjectives. If, however, they are followed by a noun, you’re probably not dealing with a gerund, so be wary. Sometimes gerunds are followed by nouns, but they’re never used as describing words. Not a very satisfying explanation, I know, but this is _not_ a grammar blog. Look for a real article if you want a real explanation.
To make this post even more exciting, I’ll update it with your own noun and gerund submissions, just send me your ideas below:
Neko and Panda's 