Gerunds are the -ing form of a verb, and infinitives are the to + base form. These words can be confusing; they combine the meaning of a verb with the grammar of a noun.

In “I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me,” the object of the verb “appreciate” is the gerund “taking.” A gerund is just an “ing” form of a verb used as a noun, meaning ...

Gerunds are -ing verbs that are used as nouns. Since words are classified into parts of speech on the basis of the grammatical roles they play, such terms are no more called verbs but gerunds.

In her 2000 book Word Court, Barbara Wallraff suggests that, when in doubt, the writer should assume the -ing word is a gerund and default to the possessive "unless there's a reason to think and ...