English

Practical English Grammar

the gerund and gerund phrase

➲ A gerund, the second type of verbal, ends in -ing and functions as a
noun. A gerund’s uses are many—subject, direct object, subject comple-
ment (predicate nominative), appositive, and object of the preposition.
If a gerund or the entire gerund phrase is removed from the sentence,
the remaining words will not form a complete, logical sentence.
The underlined word in each sentence is a gerund. Its use is within the
parentheses that follow the sentence.
Learning is fun for Kate and Moe. (subject)
Marcia loves sewing. (direct object)
A fun time for Rachel is reading. (predicate nominative)
His passion, traveling, inspired him in many ways. (appositive)
Geraldine has a love for traveling. (object of
the preposition)

➲ A gerund phrase includes the gerund, its modifiers, and the words
that complete the idea begun by the gerund.
In each sentence, the gerund is italicized, and the gerund phrase is
underlined.

Shopping for new dresses excites Terry Anne. (subject)
The orchestra members enjoy rehearsing for long periods of time.
(direct object)
Tommy’s passion is running long distances. (predicate nominative)
Joanna’s love, running, kept her very fit. (appositive)
Can you pass the test by studying very hard this month? (object of the
preposition)
Note: Remember that the same phrase can have several uses.
The man signaling to you is my grandfather. (participial phrase)
Signaling to you was not difficult. (gerund phrase)
The player passing the soccer ball is James. (participial phrase)
Passing the soccer ball was hard for that man. (gerund phrase)

Notes

Practical English Grammar - Notes

1. Italics Hyphens and Brackets