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>I had a ‘light bulb’ moment today. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it. Almost.
Who here knows what a Gerund is? (ya, ya … I can see those hands raised). Please tell me there’s someone else besides myself who had no idea what it meant! Please???
Yes, I have had this mentioned to me … to watch my gerunds. One of my best beta readers told me this often … sorry Stina for not listening). Yep, I’ve looked it online, scratched my head in wonder and said ‘oh ok …’ and still didn’t understand.
Until TODAY! OMG. Please don’t laugh.
For those of you who were like me and had no idea … let me spell it out for you in Steena terms. (yes, yes, I’m sure it means more .. and if it does please tell me) but … you know those “ING” words we use .. blushing, looking, watching, kissing … those words. D’uh!
Can we all say it together … ‘D’UH’! LOL
Steena Holmes 
>Good point. We hear so much about adverbs and overuse of "was" that we forget about the annoying -ing words!
>You had to know, grammar geek that I am, I jumped all over that one. The -ing words are defined as gerunds when they're used as a noun. As in, "Blushing only made her feel more embarrassed." The same word used as a verb is present participle: "She kept blushing, although she wished she could stop herself." Either way, overusing them is probably not a good idea.I think a lot of people don't know these nit-picky grammar definitions. I have a freak grammar gene and my mom is an English teacher. 🙂
>That's okay, Steena. You're forgiven. 😉
>I had a grammar-heavy English curriculum throughout school that pounded such things into my head… though honestly, I really haven't bothered much since then to remember what a gerund is. 🙂
>I thought a gerund was one of those expensive stuffed animals…
>It's the simple things that sometimes prove to be the most difficult 😉
>Steena, I'm glad you found me through Karen's site. It's really amazing the friends she has made through blogging. I read your profile where you say you love chocolate. This is my disabled daughter's least favorite thing !!!! I used to like chocolate, but I only like the dark chocolate now. Gerunds. They suggest movement, but they can be overdone. The most powerful writing comes from the active verbs and nouns.
>I knew a gerund was a part of speech, but that's about all I remember. Thanks for refresing my memory.
>Should I keep trying to learn, recall, and retain the specific parts of speech/language at my age, or should I just give it up? 🙂