Gerund ( or ) is a term in Latin grammar for a verb form which functions as a noun. Traditionally, the term has been applied to verbal nouns in other languages. In English the term has been applied to -ing forms in certain uses. Traditional grammar made a distinction within -ing forms between present participles and gerunds, a distinction that is not observed in such modern linguistically-informed grammars as A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.