New to Haiku: On Gerunds in Haiku

I don’t remember learning about gerunds before recently taking a course in English grammar. When my class hit this topic, I thought, “Wait. I’ve heard of gerunds before, something about how I’m not supposed to use them in haiku.”

Which begs the question: Why? What’s wrong with the gerund?

What is a gerund?

If, like me, you missed this confounding grammatical part of speech in school, a gerund refers to a verb ending in -ing. But not all verbs (or words) ending in -ing are gerunds. Gerunds are verbs that function as nouns. 

I like this description from David Agnew:

[A] gerund is the part of speech created when a verb (specifically the present participle, the form of the verb ending that ends in “-ing”) is repurposed as a noun. A verb describes an action (dynamic! energetic! alive!), but when it’s used as a gerund, it becomes a thing (static, lifeless, dull).

In other words, as this cute little video from the Lingportal Online School of English tells us:  “Gerunds name an activity or an idea, instead of showing an action.” The Lingportal video also points out that if you can replace the -ing verb with a noun and the sentence still makes sense, that word is a gerund. This is a little trickier in haiku, but you get the basic idea.

If you, like me, are still wrapping your mind around which -ing words are gerunds, look at this comparison (adapted from an example in Grammarly):

• Gerund example: I love swimming. (Swimming as an abstract idea.)
• Present participle example: I am swimming. (Swimming as an action.)

Taking this a step further, try to substitute a noun for “swimming”:

• Gerund example: I love art. (This sentence still makes sense; “swimming” is a gerund here.)
• Present participle example: I am art. (This sentence, while intriguing, makes no sense; “swimming” does not function as a gerund here.)

Why are gerunds frowned upon in haiku?

As Jane Reichhold wrote in her Bare Bones School of Haiku (“Lesson Six, Verbs in Haiku”):

“A strange little prejudice has built up against the use of this verb form. Because the Japanese language does not have a similar verb form, early Japanese haiku authorities spoke out against the use of the gerund in English. Thus, one of the early  ‘laws of haiku’ is that we should restrict our use of it.”

While I’ve certainly encountered the advice not to use gerunds, Charles Trumbull, in his presentation “Verbs in Haiku,” argued that this “law” is shrouded in misunderstanding:

Jane Reichhold, in her book Writing and Enjoying Haiku, for example, mistakes a gerund for a participle and goes on to compound the misunderstanding by asserting that Japanese does not have progressive form that is comparable to our “is shining” or “are blooming.”

While there is debate on this topic, I think it’s safe to assume that English gerunds may not function in exactly the same way as those words do in Japanese.

So should we use gerunds in English-language haiku today?

As I see it, gerunds have at least two strikes against them, with a possible third:

First, they are boring. As described above, gerunds are static, lifeless, and don’t show action. This sounds like the opposite of haiku to me, since haiku typically give a sense of immediacy to the scene unfolding for the reader.

Second, gerunds aren’t spatially efficient in a tightly-worded little haiku. By their very design, gerunds take up at least two syllables! While modern English-language haiku don’t adhere to a strict word count, poets still strive to use a minimum number of syllables, often falling into the 10-13 range. Why this number instead of 17? As Higginson & Harter put it in The Haiku Handbook (p. 102):

 . . . [we] concluded that an English-language translation of a typical Japanese haiku should have from ten to twelve syllables in order to simulate the duration of the original.

Jane Reichhold suggested using gerunds sparingly, an idea also espoused by Ferris Gilli for renku. As Reichhold stated in Lesson 6 of Bare Bones (clarification mine, based on Charles Trumbull’s presentation materials):

The only real problem that the gerund causes in English haiku is when more than one [-ing word] is used. The ‘ing’ sound is so strong that when two or more verbs have it (raining, shining), along with perhaps an adjective (dazzling, amazing) added to a noun that accidentally ends in ‘ing’ (morning, evening) the haiku can seem over burdened with the strong, repeated sound.

However, Brad Bennett points out a counter to that argument:

I do see an occasional haiku when the gerund adds something. One instance is when the moment is about a sound experience, and so multiple “-ing” sounds might ring the euphony bell for that particular poem. And sometimes using a gerund gives the haiku at least the hint of action if it is verb-less.

A third consideration: if you are submitting your haiku to a competition or publication where your work will be translated into Japanese, it seems like the gerund may pose a challenge for the translator, particularly if the twist of your haiku hinges upon it.

None of this is to say that you can’t write longer haiku or that you can’t use gerunds. However, it’s nice to learn more about the so-called rules and norms of haiku before you break them!

Can you spot the gerund(s)?

Okay, it’s quiz time! Here are three poems from the journal trash panda, Volume 1.2 (Winter 2021-22). Can you identify the gerund(s)? (My thoughts follow at the end. *)

atomic dawn —
scratching haiku
with my father’s pen
– Patrick Kitchen

in need of oiling porch swing sky
– Rick Tarquinio

self-soothing
tugging on the threads
of birdsong
– Marianne Paul

Do you have thoughts on gerunds? Let me know in the comments! (I still find them terribly confusing.)

For more reading:

Agnew, David. May 4, 2022. “Beware the Gerund,” on DavidAgnew.com.

Bennett, Brad. March 11, 2026. Personal correspondence.

Gilli, Ferris. 2009. “English Grammar: Variety in Renku,” in Simply Haiku: A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry, Volume 7, Number 4.

Higginson, William J. & Harter, Penny. 2013 (first published in 1989). The Haiku Handbook. Kodansha International.

Kramer, Lindsay. April 22, 2025 (update). “What is a Gerund? Definition and Examples,” on Grammarly.

Lingportal Online School of English. November 3, 2025. “A Gerund – Meet the Verb Mutant That Acts Like a Noun.” (YouTube video).

Reichhold, Jane. 2011. “Lesson Six, Verbs in Haiku,” Bare Bones School of Haiku on AHA Poetry website. Undated.

Trumbull,  Charles. March 6, 2026. Personal correspondence, including notes from his presentation “Verbs in Haiku.”

* In the first poem, by Patrick Kitchen, “scratching” functions as a verb. The second poem is a bit trickier. “Oiling” functions as a gerund here, but you can almost imagine the poet oiling the porch swing as he is composing the poem. Note the repetition of the “-ing” in the noun “swing,” which adds to the rocking cadence of this haiku. Finally, in the third haiku, Marianne Paul employs both a gerund, “self-soothing,” and the verb “tugging.” I think you could make an argument for both “self-soothing” and “tugging” functioning as verbs, but that would add a lot of space (ma) in the poem and break the cadence. Since “tugging” follows “self-soothing,” I believe that “self-soothing” acts as a noun here.

My thanks to Brad Bennett, John Kelsey, Robin Smith, and Charlie Trumbull for their help. Any remaining errors are mine.

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