Gerunds
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The document provides an overview of gerunds, explaining their definition and various usages, including as subjects, complements, and after prepositions or phrasal verbs. It highlights important examples to illustrate these functions and differentiates gerunds from present participles. Additionally, it discusses the use of gerunds in compound nouns and specific expressions.
Gerunds
- 1. P R E P A R E D B Y A N T O H D E P A R T M E N T O F E N G L I S H S T X A V I E R ’ S C O L L E G E O F E D U C A T I O N ( A U T O N O M O U S ) P A L A Y A M K O T T A I T I R U N E L V E L I I N D I A T A M I L N A D U P I N – 6 2 7 0 0 2 . GERUNDS
- 2. Definition The gerund looks exactly the same as a present participle, but it is useful to understand the difference between the two. The gerund always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb).
- 3. Usage of Gerunds The Gerund As The Subject Of The Sentence The Gerund As The Complement Of The Verb 'To Be' The Gerund After Prepositions The Gerund After Phrasal Verbs The Gerund In Compound Nouns The Gerund After Some Expressions
- 4. The Gerund As The Subject Of The Sentence Examples: 1. Eating people is wrong. 2. Hunting tigers is dangerous. 3. Flying makes me nervous. 4. Brushing your teeth is important. 5. Smoking causes lung cancer.
- 5. The Gerund As The Complement Of The Verb 'To Be' Examples 1. One of his duties is attending meetings. 2. The hardest thing about learning English is understanding the gerund. 3. One of life's pleasures is having breakfast in bed.
- 6. The Gerund After Prepositions The gerund must be used when a verb comes after a preposition. This is also true of certain expressions ending in a preposition, for example the expressions in spite of & there's no point in.
- 7. Examples Can you sneeze without opening your mouth? She is good at painting. She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road. We arrived in Madrid after driving all night. My father decided against postponing his trip to Hungary. There's no point in waiting. In spite of missing the train, we arrived on time.
- 8. The Gerund After Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs are composed of a verb + preposition or adverb.
- 9. Examples When will you give up smoking? She always puts off going to the dentist. He kept on asking for money. Jim ended up buying a new TV after his old one broke.
- 10. Further Information There are some phrasal verbs that include the word "to" as a preposition for example to look forward to, to take to, to be accustomed to, to get around to, & to be used to. It is important to recognise that the word "to" is a preposition in these cases because it must be followed by a gerund. It is not part of the infinitive form of the verb. You can check whether "to" is a preposition or part of the infinitive. If you can put the pronoun "it" after the word "to" and form a meaningful sentence, then the word "to" is a preposition and must be followed by a gerund.
- 11. Examples I look forward to hearing from you soon. I look forward to it. I am used to waiting for buses. I am used to it. She didn't really take to studying English. She didn't really take to it. When will you get around to mowing the grass? When will you get around to it?
- 12. The Gerund In Compound Nouns In compound nouns using the gerund, it is clear that the meaning is that of a noun, not of a continuous verb. For example, with the word "swimming pool" it is a pool for swimming in, it is not a pool that is swimming.
- 13. Examples I am giving Sally a driving lesson. They have a swimming pool in their back yard. I bought some new running shoes.
- 14. The Gerund After Some Expressions The gerund is necessary after the expressions can't help, can't stand, to be worth, & it's no use.
- 15. Examples She couldn't help falling in love with him. I can't stand being stuck in traffic jams. It's no use trying to escape. It might be worth phoning the station to check the time of the train.
- 16. THANK YOU