A word ending in –ing that looks like a verb but that is not being used as a verb can be ambiguous because such a word can be a gerund, an adjective, or a noun. If the syntax of the sentence doesn’t make clear how the word is being used, non-native English speakers, localization, and machine translation may have difficulty disambiguating the word. Consider the following heading:
Meeting requirements
Will the text under this heading discuss “how to meet requirements”? Or will it discuss “requirements for a meeting”?
A gerund is an –ing word that functions as a noun but that expresses a verbal action or process. If meeting in this example heading means “the act or process of meeting a set of requirements,” then meeting would be a gerund. An –ing word that functions as an adjective also expresses a verbal action or process, but in a “that is + ing” or “that are + ing” relationship with a noun. If meeting in this example heading means “requirements that are meeting,” then meeting in this heading would be an adjective. An –ing word that functions as a noun expresses a non-verbal relationship with the noun that it modifies. If meeting in this heading means “the requirements for a meeting,” then meeting would be a noun.
Based on this explanation, note that meeting in this example heading can be a gerund, because it can be expressed as “the act or process of meeting a set of requirements.” It can also be a noun, because it can be expressed as “the requirements for the meeting.” It cannot be an adjective, because it cannot be expressed as “requirements that are meeting.” But because it can be either a gerund or a noun, it must be disambiguated. You could do so by using any of the following:
Meeting the requirements
The requirements for the meeting
The meeting requirements
How to meet the requirements
Here is another example heading:
Formatting templates
Note that by using the earlier explanation, you can determine that formatting in this heading can be a gerund (“the act or process of formatting templates”). It can also be a noun (“templates that are used for formatting”). It cannot be an adjective (“templates that are formatting”).
Whenever it isn’t clear from the syntax of a sentence whether a verb-like –ing word is functioning as a gerund, a noun, or an adjective, try to make its function explicit. For this example heading, you could do so by using any of the following:
Formatting the templates
The formatting templates
How to format the templates
Using gerunds to describe general concepts, such as clustering and networking, can be a problem for localization. Not all grammars allow gerunds to be used in this way, so a single word may be translated as a phrase. For example, in Dutch, imaging is translated as image processing, and licensing is translated as the granting of licenses. Further, not all gerunds are translatable in all languages, so some loss of meaning is inevitable. If you must use gerunds to describe concepts, work with your localization program manager or localization expert to keep the impact of such words to a minimum. Also, consider creating a definition of the term and adding it to your managed terminology.
For more information, see Titles and headings (Chapter 7); Chapter 3; Procedures (Chapter 6); Verbs and verb forms.