Take the two sentences:
-The air is cold
-Explaining grammar well is hard

The definition of a gerund as a verb functioning as a noun is not helpful. Nouns are a category of words. They perform a number of functions including subject, object, complement, and modifiers. It would be very unhelpful to say that "the air" is a noun (or NP) functioning as a noun. Rather, one would say "the air" is a noun functioning as a subject. For the same reason, it makes more sense to say that "explaining grammar" is a verb (or present participle, or VP, or clause) functioning as a subject. The analogous point can be made for 'object', etc.

There are nouns that look like present participles, but these are different.

-Regularly cleaning the vent is important. (gerund)
-The regular cleaning of the vent is important. (noun)

Note that, like other verb forms, the gerund takes an object ('the vent') and is modified by an adverb. The noun, takes no object and is modified by an adjective.

In other words, the traditional notion of a 'gerund' in English is no longer a useful concept, but if you work in a situation where "gerund" is the traditional term, then I would describe it as a verb (or present participle, or VP, or clause) functioning as a subject, object, or complement.

The other issue is with present-participles vs. adjectives. Again, note that it is unhelpful to say "functioning as an adjective" because adjectives have a number of functions. The confusion typically arrises when the word is functioning as an attributive modifier. Both verbs and adjectives can modify nouns in this way:

-The DRIPPING tap drove me crazy (verb)
-The BORING moving drove me crazy (ambiguous: verb or adjective)
-The most BORING movie in the world drove me crazy (adjective)

Adjectives, but not verb, can be graded or modified by 'very'.

Best,
Brett

-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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