4.24: Gerunds
- Page ID
- 259513
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)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:
- Sam was really bad at gardening.
- Studying is one of Jazz’s favorite things to do.
- Danny just wanted to go skateboarding.
[reveal-answer q=”274304″]Show Answer[/reveal-answer]
[hidden-answer a=”274304″]
- Sam was really bad at gardening.
- Gardening is the object of the prepositional phrase “bad at gardening.”
- Studying is one of Jazz’s favorite things to do.
- Studying is the subject of the sentence.
- Danny just wanted to go skateboarding.
- Skateboarding is the direct object of the sentence.
[/hidden-answer]
- Revision and Adaptation. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Practice Exercises. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
- Gerund. Provided by: Wikipedia. Located at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike