Gerunding Your Way into the New Year - 2007

Gerund (source Wikipedia)

" In linguistics, a gerund is a kind of verbal noun that exists in some languages. In today's English, it can behave as a verb within a clause (so that, for example, it may be modified by an adverb or have an object), but the clause as a whole (sometimes consisting only of one word, the gerund) acts as a noun within the larger sentence. For example:

Editing this article is very easy.

Within the clause "Editing this article," the word "Editing" behaves as a verb; in particular the phrase "this article" is the object of that verb. But the whole clause "Editing this article" acts as a noun within the sentence as a whole; it is the subject of the verb "is".

In English, a verb's gerund is formed using the -ing ending. It is identical to the present participle in form, but behaves differently in syntax."

Have your eyes rolled to back of your skull yet? ;o)

Actually Gerunds are a wonderful thing. By ending in "ing" gerunds provide a sense of action; starting, selling, making, wishing, and so forth. A favorite article of mine last year talked about figuring out what one gerund captured your last year. Was it "beginning" or "growing"?

Now comes the interesting part, what one gerund would you like to capture this year's characterization. For me it would be "learning" and/or "growing". But for a business it could be any of a number of ideas.

Let me know what you think. What is your Gerund for 2007? Oh, and happy New Year!