Quick Grammar Question..NEED HELP PLEASE:)

AnonymousIn the sentence "I know he loves growing taller". I think "growing" is acting like a noun, rather then a verb or adjective or gerund. Is this assumption correct?

There are various ways to analyze these constructions. "growing" is acting like a noun, but only in the sense that a noun is often the complement of the verb 'love'. Many gram

Thanks for the response.. For this situation I insert the phrase "the act of" in front of the -ing word.
So here: I know he loves "the act of" growing taller.
It still makes sense, so it is a gerund!!
I learned this from my English 12 teacher!
Please let me know if you think this is correct.
Thanks
-Rick

AnonymousI know he loves "the act of" growing taller.

But that's not what the sentence says. He likes it when HE grows taller; he doesn't care about the general process (It's not an act) of growing taller when it happens to other people. So 'growing' is a verb with an (implicit) subject.

Nevertheless, 'gerund' is a common term for this kind of word,

AnonymousIn the sentence "I know he loves growing taller"
I think "growing" is acting like a noun

No, not at all. You can tell it’s a verb, more specifically a linking verb, because it has the adjective taller as its predicative complement. Nouns can’t take such complements.

Growing functions as predicator of the non-finite cl

Aspara GusGrowing functions as predicator ... catenative verb loves.

All fine and dandy if your English 12 teacher has ever even heard of catenatives, predicators, complements, and non-finite clauses — which is very far from being a guarantee. Otherwise, a case of TMI ("too much information")?

CalifJimOtherwise, a case of TMI

Not the way I see it. I answered the question to the best of my knowledge.

Fair enough.

CJ

Ok thanks guys.
So it is an example of a gerund.
Would this also be an example of a gerund?
"He is really a growing boy".

Thanks.

Would this also be an example of a gerund?
"He is really a growing boy".
No. 'Growing' here is a present participle, used as an adjective to describe 'boy'.

Clive