It is important to understand the real character of such forms as "building," "printing," in the phrases given above, as these forms have sometimes been mistaken for the present participle used in a passive sense. In early English these forms were written, "a-building," "a-printing," as "Forty-six years was this temple a-building." [Tyndale.] "The particle 'a' in 'a-building' is a contracted form of the Anglo-Saxon preposition an, on or in, hence 'a-building' in building is not the present participle but the gerund." Q. E. D.

It is surprising that the author, after placing such stress upon the importance of one's being able to understand the real character of this form, should commit such a grave error himself. The word in question is neither a participle nor a gerund, but a verbal noun. It is a descendant of the old verbal noun "ing," and is an abstract noun. Meiklejohn quotes the same sentence and says most emphatically that the word building is a verbal noun. Now, which horn of the dilemma shall we take? It seems to me that Meiklejohn's construction of the word is certainly correct. But before passing from the subject let us inquire into the meaning of the term "gerund." Perhaps its derivation may shed some light upon the subject. Gerund comes from the Latin gerere (future p. p. gerundus) to carry on; it carries on the power or function of the verb. The reason for the term cannot be clearly seen in English. However, we may say the gerund is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it is governed by a preposition or a verb; as a verb, it governs other nouns or pronouns.

In reality there are two gerunds-(a) one with "to," sometimes called the gerundial infinitive; and (b) one that ends in "ing."

The first must be carefully distinguished from the usual infinitive. It will be observed that the ordinary infinitive never expresses purpose, while the gerund with "to" generally does. Thus we find

(1.) And fools who came to scoff remained to pray. (2.) He comes here to write his letters.

In the seventeenth century, when the notion of purpose was to be brought out, "for to" was often used instead of "to," as"What went ye out for to seek." Similarly the Danish and the Swedish languages have "for at" and the old French has " (pour) à." "For to" is still more common in early English

"por

than in Elizabethan. The gerundive is quite common in Shakespeare after the verb "to mean": "What mean these masterless and gory swords, to lie discoloured by this place of peace?" R. and J. V., 3. "To weep to have that which it fears to lose." Sonn. 64, last line.

In Anglo-Saxon the gerund is used (1.) to express purpose, ut eode se sawere his saed to sawenne. (The sower went forth to sow his seed.) (2.) To define or determine a noun or adjective (adverb),- Hit is scondlic yub swele to sprecanne. (It is shameful to speak about such things). (3.) With the verb "be" to express necessity or duty in a passive sense,- Momige scylda beoth to forberanne. (Many sins are to be tolerated.) In this sentence the construction is similar to the Latin gerund.

"The gerundial infinitive," says Mr. Sheat, "is the dative of the simple infinitive, and always has to before it." "It is equivalent to Latin supines and gerunds. The gerundial infinitive is used in English where a supine, or ut with the subjunctive is employed in Latin." If other examples of the gerundive in Anglo-Saxon are desired the following may be considered :

(1.) Comon minre dohtor to bidanne.

(2.) Land swithe feorr to gesceanne.

3.) Tha estas him beforan legde the he him to beodanne haefde.

We frequently find the gerund with to, or the gerundial infinitive as it is sometimes called, construed with nouns and adjectives in Modern English as well as in Anglo-Saxon. Thus:

(1.) Gode etanne. (Good to eat.)

(2.) Strange to say.

(3.) A house to let.

(4.) Wood to burn.

The gerund in "ing" seems to be a source of far greater confusion than the gerundial infinitive which we have just considered. This is due to the fact that we find the termination "ing" in other kinds of words with distinct functions. The gerund in "ing" must be carefully distinguished from the verbal noun in "ing," which is a descendant of the old verbal noun in "ung".

(1.) "He went a hunting. "

(2.) "He is fond of hunting.'

66

(3.) Forty-six years was this temple in building.'

The words building and hunting are verbal nouns. They are derived from the old verbal in "ing," and are abstract nouns. The student must not lose sight of the fact that the gerund in "ing" has the function of a noun and governs an object like a verb. If we say, "He is fond of hunting deer," "He is engaged in building a hotel," "He likes reading poetry," then the three words are gerunds; for they act as verbs and govern the three objectives,- deer, hotel, and poetry. Again the gerund must be distinguished from the present participle in "ing which is a verbal adjective, thus:

(1.) "Hearing the noise, the porter ran to the gate. (2.) "Passing the Rubicon, Caesar advanced on Rome." In the last sentence passing is an adjective qualifying Caesar and a verb governing Rubicon.

In Anglo-Saxon the present participle ended in "ende" or "ande", as lufigende, loving; sayande, saying. This suffix passed through the several stages "and" (or "end"), "in ", "ingo", and finally "ing".

The gerund must not be compounded with the infinitive in "ing". Thus :

(1.) "Seeing is believing."

(2.) "Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Seeing, believing, and parting are all infinitives.

This infinitive perhaps is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon infinitive which ended in "an". Thus, writan, to write, became writen, writin, and finally writing.

Lastly the gerund must be carefully distinguished from the adjective in "ing". It is a participle that has dropped the implication of time and action and retained only its attributive meaning. Thus :

(1) "A startling cry came from the house."

(2) "She has a charming face."

In such words as "walking-stick ", "frying-pan", "fishingrod", etc., we are at a loss to know how to classify these forms in "ing".

Meiklejohn says: "If they are adjectives and participles the compounds would mean the stick that walks; the pan that fries, But the stick is a stick for walking; the pan, a pan for frying; the rod, a rod for fishing; and, therefore, fishing, frying, walking are all gerunds."

etc.

Speaking in this connection, Richard Grant White says: "Our walking sticks, our fishing rods, and our fasting days, because they cannot walk, or fish, or fast, must be changed into 'to-be-walked-with-sticks,' 'to-be-fished-with rods,' and 'to-befasted-on days'; and our church-going bells must become 'forto-church-go bells' because they are not the 'belles' that go to church. Such ruin comes of laying presumptuous hands upon idioms, those sacred mysteries of language." In assuming these forms to be participles, Mr. White has evidently misunderstood their true character. Dr. Hall of Kings College, London, inclines to the opinion that the first member of those compounds is static, and consequently no longer a participle. Dr. Hall also adds that, if Mr. White's principles were correctly applied, walkingstick, for instance, would demand resolution into stick-that-isbeing-walked-with, etc.

It seems to me, after carefully weighing the arguments both pro and con, that we can safely assume that these disputed forms are gerunds.

Let us note now the office of the gerund in the sentence. It may be used as the subject.

(1) "Catching fish is a pleasant pastime."

Catching is a gerund, because it is both a noun (nominative to "is") and a verb, governing fish in the adjective. (2.) "Whipping a dead horse is foolish."

Longman, in his School Grammar, page 124, gives as examples of the gerund used as subject, the following:

(1) "Reading is interesting.”

(2) "Walking is a healthy exercise."

(3) "Writing is a useful art."

But he is certainly at error. The forms reading, walking and writing are all verbal nouns, as any intelligent person will readily The second sentence is given in Meiklejohn's English Grammar, page 89, and the word walking is construed as a verbal noun used as subject.

see.

The gerund may be used as the object of a verb. Thus : (1) "The angler prefers taking large fish."

Taking is a gerund, because it is both a noun (objective to pre

fers) and a verb governing fish.

(2.) "I like reading history." In the following sentences:

The words riding, hunting and drawing are all verbal nouns in the objective case.

The gerund may be found in the objective case after prepositions.

(1.) "Mr Sidney is fond of hunting deer."

Hunting is a gerund, because it is both a noun (objective after of) and a verb governing deer in the objective.

The gerund with "to", or the gerundial infinitive, may be used as an enlargement :

(1.) Of the subject,-"Anxiety to succeed wore him out." (2.) Of the object,-"Bread to eat could not be had anywhere."

(3.) Of the predicate - "He did it to insult us."

The gerund is used with the verb "be" to express purpose or intention (Bain). Thus:

(1.) "I am to write." "I intend or purpose to write." (2.) "I was to write."

"I intended to write."

The gerund preceded by "have" expresses obligation (Bain). Thus :

(1.) "I have to write." write."

(2.) "I had to write."

"I am obliged to write." "I must

In conclusion permit me to say that the gerund is no new thing, as generally supposed. It is one of the oldest forms of the verb in the English language, and is found in early Anglo-Saxon. But our grammarians who edit their texts with scissors and paste, seem to have realized only recently that there was such a form as the gerund in English. Hence, it is not surprising that some of our grammatical sages exhibit such unnatural avidity at present in devouring this subject without attempting to digest it. In their unseemly haste, they have not taken time to reconcile their contradictory statements. No wonder they are so inconsistent. If consistency is a virtue-a jewel of rarest price-I would that our grammarians might be made to know it. I hope the day is not far distant when the English gerund will receive the intelligent consideration and treatment, at the hands of every grammarian, that it deserves.