verbal noun
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English
Noun
verbal noun (plural verbal nouns)
- (grammar) A noun that is morphologically related to a verb and similar to it in meaning; in English, it contrasts with the gerund and the deverbal noun.
Usage notes
Traditional grammarians often used the term "verbal noun" as a synonym for gerund.
- Brisk walking is good exercise.
It is a pure noun with no verbal force, so it cannot take an object or an adverb (as a gerund can), however, it can be part of a possessive construction (the visiting of a friend) and it can take an adjective (fast driving) as other nouns can. On the other hand, it still refers to the abstract act, process, or occurrence implied in the verb, as opposed to—for example—its result, as a deverbal noun does.
Synonyms
- verbal substantive
- (in Arabic grammar) masdar, nomen verbi