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4.24: Gerunds

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    Gerunds all end in -ing: skiing, reading, dancing, singing, etc. Gerunds act like nouns and can serve as subjects or objects of sentences. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

    The following sentences illustrate some uses of gerunds:

    • Swimming is fun.
      • Here, the subject is swimming, the gerund.
      • The verb is the linking verb is.
    • I like swimming.
      • This time, the subject of this sentence is the pronoun I.
      • The verb is like.
      • The gerund swimming becomes the direct object.
    • I never gave swimming all that much effort.
      • break these down too
    • Do you fancy going out?
      • break these down too
    • After being elected president, he moved with his family to the capital.
      • break these down too

    Gerunds can be created using helping verbs as well:

    • Being deceived can make someone feel angry.
    • Having read the book once before makes me more prepared.

    Often the “doer” of the gerund is clearly signaled:

    • We enjoyed singing yesterday (we ourselves sang)
    • The cat responded by licking the cream (the cat licked the cream)
    • His heart is set on being awarded the prize (he hopes that he himself will be awarded the prize)
    • Tomás likes eating apricots (Tomás himself eats apricots)

    However, sometimes the “doer” must be overtly specified, typically in a position immediately before the non-finite verb:

    • We enjoyed their singing.
    • We were delighted at Bianca being awarded the prize.

    Practice

    Identify the gerunds and their roles in the following sentences:

    1. Sam was really bad at gardening.
    2. Studying is one of Jazz’s favorite things to do.
    3. Danny just wanted to go skateboarding.

    [reveal-answer q=”274304″]Show Answer[/reveal-answer]
    [hidden-answer a=”274304″]

    1. Sam was really bad at gardening.
      • Gardening is the object of the prepositional phrase “bad at gardening.”
    2. Studying is one of Jazz’s favorite things to do.
      • Studying is the subject of the sentence.
    3. Danny just wanted to go skateboarding.
      • Skateboarding is the direct object of the sentence.

    [/hidden-answer]

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