Are you familiar with gerunds? These verb-noun hybrids can be confusing because they look like verbs but function as nouns. In this article, we’ll explain the grammatical function of gerunds and provide plenty of examples to help you understand how to use them in your writing.
A gerund is a type of word that looks like the present participle of a verb, but it functions as a noun. Gerunds can be formed from any verb by adding “ing” at the end, such as:
However, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as when a verb ends in “ie,” such as:
With verbs that end in e (but not ie), you remove the e before adding ing, like this:
Finally, there are some verbs for which the doubling up rule applies. This means you double the final consonant in single-syllable verbs that end with a single vowel followed by a single consonant:
Now that you know how to form gerunds, let’s look at how to use them.
Each of the following sentences has a gerund as its direct object (i.e., the noun that’s acted upon by the verb):
You can add modifiers to gerunds to create gerund phrases:
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Gerunds can also be used as the subject of a sentence, such as:
Again, we can add modifiers to make more descriptive gerund phrases:
Subject complements are words or phrases that come after a linking verb – often a form of the verb to be (e.g., is, was, am, are) – and describe or define the subject. You use gerunds in subject complements when they refer to any kind of activity:
Compound nouns are nouns made up of more than one word. Many compound nouns include gerunds:
Although the first word in each of these examples is a verb, it functions as a noun in the compound noun. The site is for building, but it doesn’t build. The water doesn’t drink, the pool doesn’t swim, etc.!
Gerunds can be confusing, especially if English isn’t your first language. This is because they’re spelled exactly like the present participle form of a verb, but they act like nouns (or parts of compound nouns).
Hopefully, you now feel more confident about using gerunds in your writing. If there’s an area of grammar that you’re not sure about, check out our guide to common ESL writing errors. And if you’d like a professional to check any of your work for errors, our proofreaders are here to help. Why not try our service today by uploading your first document for free?
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