Gerunds are common grammatical concepts that we use on daily basis, regardless of whether we have knowledge of them or not. In this article, we will thoroughly discuss gerunds. Moreover, we will provide various examples to illustrate the concept. Thus you will feel the ease of its usage in your writing as well as your spoken language. Similarly, it will give you the competence to accurately recognize them inside the text.

Definition

A gerund is the –ing form of a verb used as a noun.

Gerund = Verb + ing

A gerund is used in the same way as the noun, i.e. as a subject or an object.

For example:   s v

Playing tennis is fun.

Playing is a gerund. Here it is used as the subject of the sentence.

 s       v        o   

We enjoy playing tennis.

Here the gerund playing is used as the object of the verb enjoy.

                        Prep       O

He is excited about playing tennis.

Here the gerund playing is used as the object of preposition about.

Gerunds are formed with verbs, but they function as nouns. Thus it is an easy task to identify them from their structure. A gerund is formed when we add ‘ing’ to the tail of the verb. That is the only science to form it. Moreover, there is no other rule to form gerunds.

Difference between a gerund and a present participle

You need to keep one thing in mind here, that gerunds are words that we form with verbs. Yet it functions as a noun. Conversely, the present participle does not function as a noun. It rather acts as a modifier or a progressive verb. Thus the main point of separation between the two is that a gerund acts as a noun. However, the present participle does not.

Exercises

Let’s go fishing in the river next weekend.

The examination department delayed announcing the result today due to some inadvertent reasons.

Abraham understood that his riding on the heavy bull was the most incredible experience he had ever had.

I avoided looking towards her because she was busy solving her assignment.

Relevant Post:

Infinitive

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  • Examples of gerund:
    1)Playing cricket is my daily routine.
    2)Reading books is my hobby.
    3)A way to spend my leisure time is reciting the Holy Quran.
    4)He is improving his english skills.
    5)sleeping early at night is good habbit.
    6)he like eating pizza.
    Examples of infinitives:
    1)he likes to recite the Holy Quran.
    2)he likes to play hockey.
    3)he was ready to play.
    4)we are going to sleep.
    5)Aeroplane is ready to take the flight.
    6)I going to write an eassy.

  • Gerund. Let's go for shopping after lunch.
    Swimming is a good exercise.
    Infinitive
    Everyone wanted to go.
    I want to study math.

  • EXAMPLES OF GERUND:
    I prefer traveling by road than by air.
    I like writing in English.
    Writing in English is difficult.
    Playing candy crush is my favorite pass time.

  • EXAMPLES OF INFINITIVES:
    I like to eat fast food.
    She likes to buy hand made things.

  • Gerund

    Reading helps you learn English

    Let’s go dancing at the club tonight.

    Smoking causes lung cancer

    Infinitive

    He asked me not to be late.

    I am calling to ask you about dad.

    To know her is to love her.

  • Examples of gerund;
    1: Swimming is a good exercise.
    2: sailing is my favourite sport.
    3: My favourite pastime is watching TV.
    Examples of infinitive;
    1: To write in English difficult.
    2: To eat junk food is not good for health.

  • Gerund:-
    1. I love reading books.
    2.Swimming laps is the most relaxing activity in the world.

  • Playing video games is my hobby.
    Playing cricket is so much fun.

  • I like runing .
    Reciting holy Quran is my daily routine.

  • I love going out to resturant .
    I like writting in english.
    Writting in english is difficult.
    Watching TV is my favorite pastime.

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