Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to All:   
      
   ak>  A sentence:   
      
   ak>  Free parking is available at the hotel.   
      
   ak>  As I think "parking" is a noun.   
      
      
              Yes, according to my OXFORD CANADIAN DICTIONARY "parking" is a noun   
   in this context.   
      
      
      
   ak>  We don't use "a" article for the same reason we omit   
   ak>  articles in newspaper titles.   
      
      
              For the sake of brevity we often omit articles on signs too.  But I   
   think there may be another reason.  See below....  :-)   
      
      
      
   ak>  So, "parking" here is a place to park cars.   
      
      
              Uh-huh.  A place... IOW, a general area.  :-)   
      
      
      
   ak>  Can I say that this sentence has another meaning if I say   
   ak>  that "parking" is a gerund?   
      
      
              The word "parking" may have been derived from the verb initially...   
   but a gerund, by definition, functions as a noun.   
      
      
      
   ak>  In this case "parking" is a process,   
      
      
              As we explain the concept to junior high school students Over Here,   
   "a noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or (abstract) idea".  AFAIC you   
   are alluding to an abstract idea when you describe something as a process.  If   
   it's any consolation, native speakers often have difficulty with this....  ;-)   
      
      
      
   ak>  and I say that drivers are allowed to park his car near   
   ak>  hotel? And it is possible that near that hotel there is   
   ak>  no parking lot at all.   
      
      
              Ah... now I think you're onto something!  If "parking" refers to an   
   area in which people are allowed to park cars, it is an uncountable noun which   
   we'd measure in acres or hectares or whatever.  There may or may not be marked   
   spaces.  Either way we're oversimplifying if we equate the number of spaces to   
   the number of cars.  I see nothing here indicating (e.g.) that motorcycles and   
   recreational vehicles are excluded.  A downtown hotel with underground parking   
   may have more restrictions than a hotel in the suburbs or beyond, however, and   
   I'm just as skeptical as you are when I'm reading advertisements... [chuckle].   
      
              Another example is "seating".  In church, or in a sports arena, the   
   seating may consist of benches.  How many people will fit onto a bench depends   
   on their size, the nature of their relationship, etc.  In a theatre, there may   
   be numbered seats.  But the math also becomes more complex when one takes into   
   account that wheelchair users bring their own seating along with them & may or   
   may not transfer to a different seat if a suitable alternative is available.   
      
              Another example is "standing room only".  How many individuals will   
   fit into a given space depends on a lot of different factors as well.  In this   
   part of the world, the fire marshall may have something to say about it.  :-))   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)