Are you English learner? May be you are English student in university that take English as you major department or you are English learner in school level. You can find English material here. Yes, you come to the right place. You can learn English with me here by reading this article.
Well, in this occasion, I will give explanation about “What Are Gerunds?”.
Do you ever hear about this material before? If you are not, please pay attention my explanation about this material and read this material carefully. Oke, check this out.
What Are Gerunds? (with Examples)
A gerund is a noun formed from a verb. All gerunds end -ing. For example:
- swimming
- running
- drinking
Even though a gerund is a noun, a gerund can still take a direct object (like a verb). This is known as a gerund complement. For example:
- swimming the lake
- running a mile
- drinking a beer
More Examples of Gerunds
Below are some more examples of gerunds (shaded) with their roles as nouns explained:
- Acting is fun.
(Gerund as the subject of a sentence)
- Playing football is fun.
(Here, football is the gerund complement of the gerund playing.)
- Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people from coughing. (Sir Ralph Richardson, 1902-1983)
(Acting is a gerund as a subject. The gerunds keeping and coughing are objects of prepositions.)
(In this example, a large group of people is the gerund complement of keeping.)
-
- Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. (Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931)
(Two gerunds, both subject complements)
-
- I love acting. It is so much more real than life. (Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900)
(A gerund as the direct object of the verb love)
-
- You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans. (Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004)
(A gerund as the object of a preposition)
-
- I like to play blackjack. I’m not addicted to gambling, I’m addicted to sitting in a semi-circle. (Mitch Hedberg, 1968-2005)
(Two gerunds, both objects of prepositions)
Gerund Phrases
A gerund will often appear in a gerund phrase. A gerund phrase consists of a gerund, its object, and all modifiers. For example (gerund phrase shaded):
-
- Picking rotten apples from the floor is a great way to get stung by a wasp.
Read more about gerund phrases.
All Gerunds End -ing but So Do Present Participles
Even though all gerunds end with the suffix -ing, not every word which ends -ing is a gerund. The other common type of word which ends -ing is the present participle. Like gerunds, present participles are also formed from verbs (making them verbals), but they are not used as nouns. They are used as adjectives or when forming verbs in a progressive tense. For example:
-
- Running the tap will clear the air pocket.
(This is a gerund.)
-
- Can you fix the running tap?
(This is a present participle as an adjective.)
-
- The tap was running for an hour.
(This is a present participle used to form the past progressive tense.)
Because gerund is as a noun so gerund can be in the position :
- As Subject .
- As Object
- Nominal Predicate
- After Preposition
- Compound Noun
- After Possessive Adjective
- After some utterances
Pay attention to the following examples :
- Gerund as subject
Example : Singing makes John happy
- Gerund as object
Example : She always avoids going by herself
Gerund as object is usually found after verb below :
Admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, consider, defer, deny, like, dislike, miss, stop, enjoy, mind, give up, suggest, involve, prevent, escape, resist dll.
- Gerund as Nominal Predicate
Example : My hobby is fishing
- Gerund after Preposition (in, at, on, before, after, without, etc)
Example : Why does the sun go on shining
- Gerund as Compound noun
Example : Waiting room, swimming pool, writing desk
- Gerund after Possesive Adjective
Example : His coming makes her very happy
- Gerund setelah ungkapan-ungkapan tertentu seperti :
It is no use = tidak ada gunanya
Can’t stand = tidak tahan
Let’ go = mari kita pergi
Look forward to = menanti
It is no good = tidak baik
To be used to = terbiasa
Object to = menolak
Example : It is no good hunting the tiger
I think my explanation about the point above is enough. If you have a question about the grammar rule I have just explained just now, you can write a comment in the comment form below. I will feel happy to answer your question or may be if you have suggestion or correction about it, you can also write a comment.
Refference
http://english-grammar-lessons.co.uk/glossary/gerunds.htm
English Course Book of EECC Kudus (translated)