Verbal noun

A verbal noun is a noun formed from or otherwise corresponding to a verb. Different languages have different types of verbal noun and different ways of forming and using them. An example of a verbal noun in English is the word singing in the sentence "Singing is fun" (this is a noun formed from the verb sing). Verbal nouns may be non-finite verb forms such as infinitives or gerunds in English (or Latin) usage. They may also be "pure" verbal nouns, formed from verbs, but behaving grammatically entirely like nouns rather than verbs (not taking direct objects, for example). Such cases may also be called deverbal nouns.

Verbal nouns may be non-finite verb forms which follow verb syntax, for example by taking appropriate objects (though usually not a subject) and being modified by adverbs, to produce a verb phrase which is then used within a larger sentence as a noun phrase. In English this can be done with the to-infinitive and with the gerund. In the following examples with infinitives, the verb phrase serving as a noun phrase is underlined, and the to-infinitive itself is bolded:

In the first sentence the verbal noun phrases play the role of subjects, and in the remaining examples they are verb objects or complements. There are restrictions on the grammatical contexts in which this type of noun phrase can be used, and infinitives also have other uses in which they would not be regarded as nouns. For details see infinitive.

The following examples use gerunds (the gerund itself is bolded, the verb phrase serving as a noun phrase is underlined):

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