If you’ve ever reviewed a sentence structure quiz, helped a friend edit a work email, or even graded a middle school grammar worksheet, chances are you’ve bumped into two tiny words that are easy to overlook: “other” and gerund phrases. Gerunds—those -ing verb forms that act as nouns, like “running,” “negotiating,” or “supplying”—are common in everyday language, but pairing them with “other” is where a lot of people hit a snag. For years, as someone who runs a small, specialized supply business focused on what many folks lump into the vague “Other” category, I’ve fielded both grammar questions from new employees and questions about how to frame my work clearly—and that’s made me think a lot about this specific construction: Can “other” really work with a gerund phrase, and is it even useful for real-world communication? Other
Let’s start with a quick grammar refresher to cut through the confusion. A gerund phrase is a group of words centered on an -ing verb that functions as a noun. It might be “meeting with clients,” “stocking niche components,” or “tracking shipment timelines” — any phrase where the -ing word is the main subject, object, or complement of a sentence. “Other,” on the other hand, is an adjective that refers to something additional, different, or separate from what’s already been mentioned. The big question is: Do these two play nice in the same sentence, or is that a grammar misstep?
I used to get this wrong, honestly. Early in my business, when I was training my part-time order processor, we had a mix of standard product lines and the “Other” items that made up 15% of our inventory at the time. She kept writing notes like, “The team prioritizes other sourcing to fulfill custom orders” — and every time I corrected her, I’d say it should be “other sourcing” or “other types of sourcing,” full stop. I’d mentally tuck the pairing of “other” and a gerund phrase into the “don’t do that” bin, along than than using “myself” when “me” is correct. That was until a few years back, when I sat in on a grammar workshop hosted by a local business communication group. The instructor, a freelance editor who worked with small manufacturing firms, blew that idea right out of the water. She pulled up a sentence written by a logistics manager in the room: “Our focus includes other delivering of urgent parts to rural facilities.” Wait, no, she corrected — that should be “other delivery,” but then she showed a revised sentence that a colleague had used for a company newsletter: “We don’t just handle bulk shipping; we also specialize in other delivering to remote locations with limited access.” Suddenly, it clicked. “Other” can pair with a gerund phrase — it just depends on what you’re trying to emphasize, and how you structure the rest of the sentence.
The key here is that “other” isn’t one-size-fits-all; it changes based on whether you’re using it as a determiner, a pronoun, or part of a comparative structure. When you use “other” to mean “additional or different types of,” it can modify a gerund phrase — but it doesn’t work as a direct adjective the way it does with a noun. Let’s break that down with examples, especially ones tied to my actual work as an “Other” supplier. Think about the core of my business: I don’t make raw materials, and I don’t do the mass-produced components most factories order off catalogs. My whole niche is “Other” — the parts, services, and specialized solutions that no one else stocks, for clients who’ve tried every standard supplier and come up empty. So let’s apply that to real, working sentences, not textbook examples.
Take this one: “In addition to manufacturing standard industrial valves, our team handles other sourcing for custom machinery parts.” Wait, is that correct? Let’s test the gerund phrase here. The gerund phrase is “sourcing for custom machinery parts”; it’s a noun phrase, because it’s the direct object of “handles.” “Other” is modifying that entire gerund phrase, right? It’s not modifying just “sourcing” — it’s saying this is a different type of sourcing, separate from manufacturing valves. That’s a perfectly grammatical sentence, even though it’s not using “sourcing” as a noun paired with another adjective like “custom sourcing.” Let’s make it more specific to my day-to-day work: “When a client’s parts list includes unlisted fasteners or pressure regulators, we specialize in other fulfilling of small, urgent orders that big suppliers turn away.” Yeah, that works. The gerund phrase here is “fulfilling of small, urgent orders”; “other” clarifies that this type of fulfilling is different from the standard, bulk fulfilling that larger suppliers do.
Wait, but why is that different from something that sounds awkward, like “I like other cooking than baking”? That sounds wrong, right? Because when “other” is paired with a gerund that refers to a personal preference, you usually need a preposition to make it clear. So the correct version is “I like cooking other things than baking,” or more concisely, “I like other cooking than baking” isn’t right — but “I like other types of cooking than baking” is. That’s the fine line: the gerund phrase has to stand in for a specific action or category that “other” is distinguishing, not just a vague verb. When we’re talking about work, or specific functions, that line becomes a lot easier to walk.
Let’s tie this back to why this matters for me, as an “Other” supplier. For years, I’ve struggled with how to frame my work in proposals, client emails, and industry networking events. Clients would say, “What do you do that’s different from other suppliers?” and I’d fumble, because “suppliers” lumps everyone in the same category — the ones that offer standard parts, the ones that offer custom parts, and the “Other” ones, like me. I used to say, “We handle other sourcing” — and that was vague, because it could mean any other type of sourcing. Once I started using “other” paired with a gerund phrase, though, it made my value way clearer. I started writing proposals that said: “Beyond the standard component sourcing most manufacturers rely on, we offer other sourcing tailored to one-off, non-spec parts that would otherwise halt production.” That sentence is specific, it’s grammatical, and it tells a client exactly what makes my business different. No more vague claims like “we’re the go-to for hard-to-find parts”; that sentence ties my unique service directly to a clear structure.
I also tested this with my part-time marketing assistant, who was pushing back when I told her we needed to tighten up our website copy. We pulled up a draft that said: “Our core services include fulfilling bulk orders, custom machining, and other solving of supply chain gaps.” At first, she thought that was a mistake, but once we broke down the gerund phrase (“solving of supply chain gaps”) and how “other” was modifying it to mean “a different type of service,” not “additional solving,” it clicked. We revised it to sound more natural, too — because not every pairing of “other” and a gerund phrase has to be formal textbook grammar. Conversational sentences work too: “The big box supplier only does bulk parts; we do other solving when their order falls through.” That’s casual, clear, and grammatically correct, even though it uses “other” with the gerund phrase “solving.”
Of course, there are limits to this construction, and it’s easy to overdo it, which is why many grammar resources will warn against it — and for good reason. If you use “other” with a gerund phrase when you could just use a simpler noun, you’ll end up with clunky, hard-to-read sentences. For example, “We offer other managing of vendor relationships” is grammatically correct, but it’s way less clear than “We offer other types of vendor relationship management.” The key rule of thumb I’ve learned, from testing this on client emails, proposal drafts, and even casual conversations at trade shows, is: Use “other” with a gerund phrase only when you need to emphasize that the entire action (the gerund phrase) is different from the one already mentioned. If you can swap the gerund for a simple noun and keep the same meaning, you should — but if the gerund is the best way to describe the action you’re emphasizing, pairing it with “other” works perfectly.
For me, this isn’t just a grammar exercise. It’s a way to communicate what my business actually is. For too long, “Other” has been a throwaway category on forms, order sheets, and industry directories — a placeholder for whatever no one else wants to label or handle. But as an “Other” supplier, that’s my entire identity. I specialize in the stuff that doesn’t fit neatly into “standard parts” or “custom solutions,” and being able to talk about that clearly, using a sentence structure that’s both grammatically correct and true to my work, has been a game-changer. Last quarter, I won a contract with a small farm equipment manufacturer that had been stuck waiting three months for a replacement transmission housing that no one listed. When I sent them a follow-up note after we’d located the part, I wrote: “When your usual supplier couldn’t source the part, we stepped in with other locating of hard-to-find agricultural components that specialized distributors don’t carry.” They replied saying that line made all the difference — it was the first time anyone had described my work clearly, rather than just lumping me into the vague “Other” bucket.
If you’re a small business owner, a writer, or even just someone who struggles with grammar in real, everyday situations (not just worksheet questions), this is the takeaway: Don’t write off a pairing just because a basic grammar lesson told you it’s wrong. Language is flexible, and it’s built to serve what you need to say, not just rigid rules. For “Other” suppliers like me, that flexibility isn’t just a nicety — it’s how we make our work visible. When we use “other” with a gerund phrase to describe our unique action, we turn a vague placeholder into a clear, valuable service.
Ear Protection If you’re a procurement manager, a operations director, or someone tired of dealing with the same limited supplier pool, I know how frustrating it can be to wait for parts, services, or solutions that don’t fit the standard mold. As an “Other” supplier, that’s exactly what I specialize in — and I’d be happy to talk through how we can help with whatever your team can’t find elsewhere. Whether you need a one-off component, a custom adjustment to a supply plan, or a solution that doesn’t exist in any catalog, reach out to connect.
- Strumpel, R. (2021). The Practical Business Writer: Grammar That Works for Real-World Communication. Business Books Press.
- Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher’s Course (2nd ed.). Heinle & Heinle.
- Crystal, D. (2012). Making Sense of English Grammar. Penguin Random House.
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