Ohhh nooo…
A bit ago I wrote info re: a young man who posted a somewhat simple English test on Reels. He gave questions from Grade 1 to Grade 8, and I suspect the most difficult question for people came from Grade 8: What do we call a word that derives from a verb but functions as a noun?
A gerund.
Two people who said they were English teachers commented that they’d never heard of a gerund before — so I typed out an explanation — see the pic below.
Continued…
Good grief — she’s arguing with me (albeit politely).
The example I gave was “He enjoys RUNNING.”
She thinks that’s a present participle — which is also “running” — but then it would be functioning as a verb — as in “I am running to the store to get milk.” THAT’s a present participle.
In “He enjoys running,” THAT’s a gerund —it is a verb acting like a THING (so a noun), a thing he enjoys —as in “He enjoys old movies.”
I tried to explain it again & gave her advice on where find more info.