opening(s)/closing(s) - gerunds or nouns

Question

Hi there teachers,

Would you please tell me if we can use the ing words "openings" and "closings" as in the sentences below? Are they gerunds or nouns?

1) He was frightened by the frequent openings and closings of the door.
2) The frequent openings and closings of the doors frightened him.

Thank you all!

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

Opinion differ on this. In my opinion they are nouns as they are preceded by the definite article (the) and and an adjectival attribute (frequent). Furthermore, they are in the plural.

Noun: The speaking of English is easy.
Gerund: Speaking English is easy.

A gerund can have an object while a noun can't. A gerund can also be used in the passive voice and it has two tenses:

He didn't like being seen in my company.
He wasn't crazy about having been seen in my company.

CB

Ozzourti · Answer

I would lose the 's' in each word and say: the frequent opening and closing of the door(s).

Laborious · Answer

Thank you very much, CB, for you helpful reply!

How about these ones, please.

3) The stitching of this item of clothing is better than the stitching of that item of clothing. (Could we also say "stitchings" here?)

4) The snoring of his friend didn't let him sleep. (Is it natural and correct grammatically? And could we use it (the 'ing' word) in plural as well?)
Or would you say "His friend's snoring didn't let him sleep."?

And heartily thanks to you too, Ozzourti!
Would you like to tell me the reason of your preferring "opening" and "closing" to "openings" and "closings"? Please tell me if it is your personal preference or if there is a rule for it.

I have one more and probably last question, please: When an -ing word comes after/follows a possessive pronoun, is it a gerund or a noun? For e.g. in my "His friend's snoring ...", is it a gerund or a noun (verbal noun)?

Thanks to both of you once again for giving this thread your precious time.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Laborious3) The stitching of this item of clothing is better than the stitching of that item of clothing. (Could we also say "stitchings" here?)

This and that are equally good English. If you don't know their meanings, you can consult a dictionary, please.

I wouldn't say stitchings.

Laborious4) The snoring of his friend didn't let him sleep. (Is it natural and correct grammatically? And could we use it (the 'ing' word) in plural as well?)Or would you say "His friend's snoring didn't let him sleep."?

Both are okay with me. No plural here.

In Scandinavia grammarians talk about the subject of the gerund in sentences like these:

I insist on his/him doing it now.
I insist on everybody doing it now.
I insist on John / (John's) doing it now.

I know there are grammarians who have other labels for the words in bold. As far as learning English is concerned, I consider such labels rather unimportant and I couldn't really care less what grammatical terms people want to use.

CB

Laborious · Answer

Thank you once again, Cool Breeze, for your help.

Cool BreezeLaborious3) The stitching of this item of clothing is better than the stitching of that item of clothing. (Could we also say "stitchings" here?)This and that are equally good English. If you don't know their meanings, you can consult a dictionary, please.I wouldn't say stitchings.

Actually, I wanted to use "that" to compare an item of clothing which was farther from me with the item which was closer to me.

For e.g. The stitching of this item of clothing (the item is in my hands) is better than the stitching of that (the item over there) item of clothing.

Could you please provide me a list of those nouns (or verbal nouns to be exact) which can be pluralized and those which cannot be pluralized.

Thank you.

Cool Breeze · Answer

LaboriousCould you please provide me a list of those nouns (or verbal nouns to be exact) which can be pluralized and those which cannot be pluralized.

You understand this and that correctly. I have no lists of the kind you have in mind. I never learned any such lists myself when I began to study English.

CB

opening(s)/closing(s) - gerunds or nouns

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