Since gerunds act as nouns they cannot take modifiers?

That statement is not entirely accurate. While gerunds function as nouns, they can take modifiers, just like other nouns.

Here's why:

* Gerunds as nouns: Gerunds are verb forms ending in "-ing" that act as nouns, often representing an action or activity. For example, "Swimming is my favorite exercise."

* Modifying gerunds: You can modify gerunds with adjectives, adverbs, and other modifiers to provide further information about the action or activity.

Examples:

* Adjectives: "The slow swimming of the turtles was a delight to watch."

* Adverbs: "He enjoyed swimming vigorously in the pool."

* Prepositional phrases: "She was tired after swimming for hours."

* Participial phrases: "He enjoyed swimming, feeling the cool water on his skin."

However, there are some limitations on modifying gerunds:

* No direct objects: Gerunds, like nouns, cannot directly take objects. However, you can use a prepositional phrase with a noun as the object to modify the gerund. For example, "Reading a good book relaxes me."

* No adverbs modifying the gerund: Adverbs typically modify verbs, so they can't directly modify a gerund. However, you can use an adverb to modify the entire gerund phrase. For example, "He slowly began swimming across the lake."

In conclusion: Gerunds can take modifiers, but they follow the same rules as other nouns in terms of what types of modifiers they can accept.