1 Like all the verbals the gerund has a double character - nominal and verbal.
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1 The verbal noun has only a nominal character.
The making of a new humanity cannot be the privilege of a handful of bureaucrats. I want you to give my hair a good brushing.
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2 The gerund is not used with an article.
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The verbal noun may be used with an article.
Our likings are regulated by our circumstances.
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3. The gerund has no plural form.
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3 The verbal noun may be used in the plural.
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4 The gerund of a transitive verb takes a direct object.
He received more and more letters, so many that he had given up reading them.
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4 A verbal noun cannot take a direct object; it takes a prepositional object with the preposition of·
Meanwhile Gwendolen was rallying her nerves to the reading of the paper.
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5 The gerund may be modified by an adverb.
Drinking, even temperately, was a sin.
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5 The verbal noun may be modified by an adjective.
He (Tom) took a good scolding about scolding Sid.
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