19 Jan 16 21:43, you wrote to Ardith Hinton:   
      
    AH>> As we explain the concept  to  junior  high  school  students  Over   
    AH>> Here, "a noun is the name of a person, place, thing,  or (abstract)   
    AH>> idea". AFAIC you are alluding to an abstract idea when you describe   
    AH>> something as a process.  If it's any consolation,  native  speakers   
    AH>> often have difficulty with this.... ;-)   
      
    ak> Yes,  the difference between a noun and a  gerund  sometimes  is  a   
    ak> bit confusing,  but there must be rules that allow us to tell the   
    ak> difference between "ing" nouns and gerunds.   
      
   there are rules but i certainly don't remember them ;)   
      
    ak> "I was awaken by a loud talking" - "talking" is a noun (because  we   
    ak> can feel it!)   
      
   "I was awakened by loud talking" or "I awoke to loud talking" or even (turn it   
   around) "Loud talking woke me"... some folks would add "up" to the end of that   
   and that takes us back to my comment of some weeks ago... eg: if you can be   
   woken up can you also be woken down?   
      
    ak> "Talking is a good exercise"  - "talking"  is  a  gerund  (the   
    ak> process itself).   
      
   you could leave out the "a" in this one... "Talking is good excercise."   
      
    ak>>> and I say that drivers are allowed to park their cars near  hotel?   
    ak>>> And it is possible that near that hotel there is no parking lot at   
    ak>>> all.   
      
    AH>> Ah... now I think you're onto something!  If "parking" refers to an   
    AH>> area in which people are allowed to park cars, it is an uncountable   
    AH>> noun which we'd measure in acres or hectares or whatever.   
      
    ak> Why "an area" is described by an uncountable noun?  It should be   
    ak> "There is a free parking (lot) near the hotel" if it is a noun, not a   
    ak> gerund.   
      
   if you use "a" in this example sentence then yes, you should add "lot" or   
   "area" or similar... without those then you would leave the "a" out...   
      
   1. "There is free parking near the hotel."   
   2. "There is a free parking lot near the hotel."   
   3. "There are free parking areas near the hotel."   
   4. "Free parking may be found near the hotel."   
   5. "Free parking spaces can be found near the hotel."   
   6. "The hotel offers free parking."   
   7. "The hotel offers free parking areas."   
   8. "The hotel's parking is free."   
      
   in the sentences above, which ones use "parking" as a noun and which as a   
   gerund? if there are any which use "parking" as something else, what else?   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   "So let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you've   
   killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect, and just and fair, and   
   when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going   
   to do with the people like you? The trouble makers. How are you going to   
   protect your glorious revolution from the next one?" - The twelfth Doctor   
      
   ... We cater to the occasional fetishes.   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)