Gerunds

A gerund is what we call a present participle (the ..ing form) of a verb which acts as a noun. When it acts as a noun, a gerund can be used as a subject, direct object, subject complement or the object of a preposition.

Gerund as a subject:

• Smoking is known to be bad for your health.   (Smoking is the gerund.)

Gerund as direct object:

• The crowd did not appreciate her singing.   (Singing is the gerund.)

Gerund as subject complement:

• My cat's favorite activity is sleeping.   (Sleeping is the gerund.)

Gerund as object of preposition:

• The police arrested him for speeding.   (Speeding is the gerund.)

A Gerund Phrase is a group of words consisting of a gerund, modifier(s) and/or noun(s), pronoun(s) or noun phrase(s) which function as the direct object(s), indirect object(s), or complement(s) of the action or state expressed in the gerund.

Some examples:

• The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence.
  Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than what we're trying to do.

• The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence.
  Working with his father made Jeff feel uncomfortable.

• The gerund phrase functions as the direct object of a verb.
  I hope that you appreciate my offering you this opportunity.

• The gerund phrase functions as the object of a preposition.
  You might get in trouble for faking an illness to avoid work.

Verbs followed by gerunds

When two verbs are used together, some verbs can only be followed by a gerund, not an infinitive. Some of the more common of these verbs are shown below:

• stop

• keep

• enjoy

• postpone

• dislike

• recommend

• avoid

• detest

• feel like

• give up

• put off

• practice

• finish

Verbs followed by an infinitive

Similarly, when two verbs are used together, some verbs can only be followed by an infinitive and not a gerund. Some of the more common of these verbs are shown below:

• hope

• expect

• intend

• agree

• refuse

• appear

• manage

• promise

• afford

• decide

• choose

• fail

• wait

• volunteer

Verbs followed by either a gerund or infinitive

Some verbs can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive. However, there is often a difference in meaning between a verb following in an infinitive form and the gerund form.

• try

• remember

• like

• forget

• love

• prefer

• start

• begin

• continue

• can't stand