Writing Tip

Avoid Plural Gerunds

Difficulty Level: Basic

Recommendation: When you wield the -ing form of a verb, avoid making it plural.

Despite its burgeoning popularity, learnings is not a word. Consider this: In 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen created an outrageous movie about a boorish would-be journalist from Kazakhstan. The title of the movie-—Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan—reveals the running joke. Not only has he not mastered English but he cobbles together his broken English using absurd word forms and combinations that Americans would never use, such as “learnings,” which is right there in the title of his movie. And yet, now we see wholesale corporate adoptions of the word.

Learning is a participle that can be used as an adjective (“a learning method”) or a noun, in which case it is called a gerund. However, “learning” is abstract and cannot take the plural form. A noun must be countable—called, surprise surprise, a countable noun—to take on a plural form. Usually, if you want a noun, you should select from the thousands of nouns available to you, such as “lessons” instead of “learnings.” Used as a singular abstract noun, it’s okay: A little learning is a dangerous thing. But you can’t count “learning,” as in a bushel of learnings, like you can count “apples,” so you can’t make it a plural and typically you can’t use the articles a and the directly in front of it (“A learning is a dangerous thing.”). It grinds against the ear.

When you encounter one of these contraptions or feel an unnatural desire to use one, overcome. Then, you too can say:

Veni, vidi, vici

--Julius Caesar, after the Pontus War

Here are some other examples of good writings:

Thinkings
I would like to apply my thinkings to the project.
Use “thoughts” instead of “thinkings.”

Talkings
I really enjoy our talkings.
Use “conversations” instead of “talkings.”

Flyings
My flyings are never on schedule.
Use “flights” instead of “flyings.”

“Leaves are falling all around. Do I have to ramble on?”