https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/10/121224-level-1-topic-school-4-arts.html
[1] A gerund is a verbal noun i.e. a noun which is formed from a verb with, in English, the use of -ing; verbal nouns refer to the act / process of doing something:
I like [i] football [noun] │ I like [ii] skateboarding [verbal noun], hiking, cooking etc.
I think that boxing is a dangerous sport and I dislike foxhunting.
Seeing is believing.
[2] Latin creates gerunds by adding -ndum to the stem of the verb:
visitō, -āre [1] > visita¦ndum [= visiting i.e. the act of visiting; the gerund functions as a 2nd declension singular neuter noun in -um].
visitō, -āre [1] > visitandum
moneō, monēre [2] > monendum
discō, discere [3] > discendum
capiō, capere [3-iō] > capiendum
audiō, audīre [4] > audiendum
[3] The gerund has no nominative case.
Nominative: -
Genitive: visitandī
Dative: visitandō
Accusative: visitandum
Ablative: visitandō
[i] In a phrase such as “seeing is believing”, which are verbal nouns in English but both of which are in the nominative case in Latin, the infinitive is used:
vidēre est credere; compare Fr. voir [infinitive] c’est croire [infinitive]; Gmn. Sehen [infinitive] ist Glauben [infinitive]
[ii] The infinitive is also used when the act of doing something is the direct object of the sentence, for example:
I love swimming [ = I love to swim] │amō natāre
[4] Apart from the nominative, the gerund can be used in all other cases and can be followed by a direct object:
Genitive
ars loquendī [genitive]│ the art of speaking
*Cupidī erant Rōmānī insulam nostram … vīsitandī [genitive] et explōrandī [genitive] │ Literally: the Romans were desirous … of visiting and (of) exploring our island
Dative
*Dat operam agrōs colendō [dative]. │ He attends to tilling fields.
Accusative
ad + the accusative of the gerund can express purpose
Ad legendum vēnit. │ He came to read / for the purpose of reading.
*Ad legendum librōs vēnit. │ He came to read books.
Mē vocās ad scrībendum. │ You summon me to write.
Ablative
Legendō [ablative] legere discimus. │ We learn to read by reading.
*Legendō librōs legere discimus. │ We learn to read by reading books.
Terit tempus scrībendō epistulās. │ He spends time in writing letters.
Rex currendō fūgit. │ The king fled by running.
*[5] Look again at the examples above with an asterisk:
Ad legendum [gerund] + librōs [direct object; accusative] vēnit. │ He came ¦ to read books.
Legendō [gerund] + librōs [direct object; accusative] legere discimus. │ We learn to read ¦ by reading books.
Terit tempus scrībendō [gerund] + epistulās [direct object; accusative] │ He spends time ¦ in writing letters.
Cupidī erant Rōmānī insulam nostram [direct object; accusative] … vīsitandī et explōrandī [gerund]. │ The Romans were desirous … ¦ of visiting and exploring our island.
Dat operam agrōs [direct object; accusative] colendō [gerund]. │ He attends ¦ to tilling fields.
All of these have a direct object with the gerund. While the sentences are perfectly correct Latin, there is a preferred parallel construction known as the gerundive which will be the next topic.
[6] causā + the gerund; grātiā + the gerund
Both causā (+genitive) and grātiā (+genitive) mean on account of; for the sake of and they follow the noun:
urbis causā: for the sake of the city
Both can be also used with the gerund to express purpose:
pugnandī causā: for the purpose of fighting
Ulixēs in terram ¦ frūmentandī causā ¦ ēgressus est. │ Ulysses went out onto the land ¦ for the sake of / purpose of obtaining corn.
quotannīs singula milia armātōrum ¦ bellandī causā ¦ ex fīnibus ēdūcunt (Caesar) │ they yearly send from their territories a thousand armed men ¦ for the purpose of waging war
neque longius annō remanēre ūnō in locō ¦ colendī causā ¦ licet (Caesar) │ nor are they permitted to remain more than one year in one place ¦ for the purpose of residence [ = residing].
simulandī grātiā: in order to deceive [ = for the purpose of deceiving]
[i] pābulandī [ii] lignandīque aut etiam [iii] mūniendī grātiā (Bellum Africum) │ for the purpose of [i] foraging (for food), [ii] obtaining wood, or even [iii] building fortifications
