fishing is not gerund--since it is limited to "today"My understanding is that a gerund is a word that has the quality of a verbal noun. In other words, it is a name for describing the
state of doing something. So I would have figured:
A fish = noun (name of an object/animal)
To fish = verb (formed from the elided concept of �catching a fish�)
Fishing = gerund (the continuing action of the verb-from-the-noun)
That would have led me to find no difference between your two examples of �fishing� � but I think it does still get something of your idea of an ongoing action, doesn�t it?
(and BTW good for you with your outlook on teaching yourself � that�s just what I�m doing here!)And belM, yes, though my initial way of trying to get at this way in which we stretch one form of word into another form was convoluted, I do think bat and batting is just the same. You could trace the same effect anytime a verb has been formed from the name of an object: say, root - rooting, shoe - shoeing, ball -
