Gerunds: ing?

1. Gerunds
as Subjects and Objects
By: Hussain Al-ghawi

2. What is gerunds?
Gerunds are words that are formed with verbs + ing but act as nouns.
 a gerunds function as a singular noun
 all verbs except modal auxiliaries have gerunds forms.

3. Gerunds as Subjects and Objectives
Gerunds as Subjects
Gerunds (subject) 3th-person singular verb Rest of the sentence
Learning math Is Difficult
Exercising Isn’t fun
Gerunds as Objects
subject verb Gerunds (object)
I enjoy shopping
We discussed Moving to Missouri

4. Note: Gerunds as objects
A gerunds can be the object of certain verbs. These verbs includes:
Avoid discuss finish like
Prefer dislike go love
Quit continue enjoy hate
Miss start begin

5. Gerunds and prepositions
Prep+ Gerunds
subject Preposition Gerunds
I will call Were tired of Leaving town.
We walked Instead of Driving.
Verbs + Prep+ Gerunds
subject Preposition Gerunds
we Worried about Losing.
He Believe in Telling the truth.
Be+ adj + Prep+ Gerunds
subject Preposition Gerunds
we Were tried of Studying hard.
He Was afraid of Losing his job.

6. Note:
 gerunds can follow prepositions such as about, for, in, instead of, to, and of.
Verbs+ prep+ Gerunds: many verbs+ prep combinations can be followed by gerunds.
These includes: approve of, believe in, disapprove of, plan on, think about, worry about.
be + adj+ prep+ Gerunds: many be + adj+ prep combinations can be followed by gerunds.
These include be accustomed to/be used to, be afraid of, be fond of, be good at, be interested in,
be surprised at, and tired of.

7. Meaning and use notes
1. referring to activities and states
A. Use a gerunds to refer to an activity or state.
Activity: Learning a foreign language is hard work.
State: I don’t like being hungry
B. Use go+ gerunds to refer to common activities. Go can be used in any tense.
I went sightseeing when I was in Paris.
C. use verbs such as like, dislike, hate, and enjoy+ gerunds to talk about liking or disliking
activities and states.
I hate eating alone.

8. 2. Do you mind ….? I don’t mind ……, and would you mind….?
A. the verb mind means “dislike, feel bothered.” mind+ gerunds is usually used in questions and negative statements to express
likes and dislikes.
Expressing like and dislikes. A: do you mind getting up early for work?
B: no, I don’t mind. I’m used to it. (= no, it doesn’t bother me).
• Use the phrase would you mind+ gerunds to make polite requests. An answer of no means that the listener agree to the request.
Making polite requests.
A: sorry to bother you, but would you mind closing that window?
b: no, not at all (ok, I will close it.)

9. 3. Other common uses
A. Use by+ gerunds to explain how to do something.
Explaining how to do something
You can make better cookies by adding extra butter.
B. gerunds are often used in signs that permit or forbid an activity.
Sign
Taking photos is not allowed. Talking during the exam is strictly forbidden

10. Verbs Followed by a Gerund
They enjoyed working on the boat.
admit
advise
appreciate
avoid
can't help
complete
consider
delay
deny
detest
dislike
enjoy
escape
excuse
finish
forbid
get through
have
imagine
mind
miss
permit
postpone
practice
quit
recall
report
resent
resist
resume
risk
spend (time)
suggest
tolerate
waste (time

11. Verbs Followed by a Preposition and a Gerund
We concentrated on doing well.
admit to
approve of
argue about
believe in
care about
complain about
concentrate on
confess to
depend on
disapprove of
discourage from
dream about
feel like
forget about
insist on
object to
plan on
prevent (someone) from
refrain from
succeed in
talk about
think about
worry about