Present participle as a noun ?

I can't think of an example.

Did you have one in mind?

- A

I was told that the present participle can not be a noun. ONLY a gerund is noun. And gerunds are not present participle.

Is it possible to have a present participle as noun but not be a gerund and vice versa ?

Can the present participle form a noun ?

Sorry for my late reply.

No, is the simple answer. It may help to consider how the two forms are defined:

A gerund is a verb-form that is functionally similar to a noun, whereas a present participle is one that is functionally similar to an adjective. They are not interchangeable in that respect. It's regrettable for our purposes that both forms are identical, i.e. they both end in -ing, which is wh

AnonymousHiis this possible ? I mean not a gerund but a present participle that is a noun.

The answer is no. The present participle is in its verblike use when it is in predicative position: The book is interesting or in adjectivelike one when in an attributive position: An interesting book. So, in my opinion it's better to define both forms (ger

AnonymousThe present participle is in its verblike use when it is in predicative position: The book is interesting or in adjectivelike one when in an attributive position: An interesting book.

That's incorrect about your first example, The book is interesting. Here, "interesting" is not a verb; it's a participial adjective functioni

Hi BillJ,

I'm eating my hat.

AnonymousHi, is this possible ? I mean not a gerund but a present participle that is a noun.

It is called a verbal noun.

The reading of the book took him about a week.
The sittings of the committee were very regular.

AnonymousIt is called a verbal noun.The reading of the book took him about a week. The sittings of the committee were very regular.

"Reading" and "sittings" are both gerundial nouns in those examples. You can tell they're nouns by the fact that they both have the article "the" as dependent, and they both have of

Seeing is believing.