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Old 18-May-2006, 11:03
Chanounie's Avatar
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Smile Those awful Gerunds !!!!!

Can you tell me and explain why please if this sentence has a gerund ? :
Watching television can be a waste of time. Thank you. These gerunds drive me up the wall !!!!!
  #2  
Old 18-May-2006, 13:13
Casiopea's Avatar
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Default Re: Those awful Gerunds !!!!!

Gerunds are nouns. Nouns function as subject and objects:

Swimming is fun. <subject>
I like swimming. <object>

Nouns can be replaced by pronouns, like this,

It is fun. <pronoun: It = Swimming>
I like it. <pronoun: it = swimming>

Now let's look at your example sentence:

Watching television can be a waste of time.

Question 1: What's the subject?
Question 2: Can we replace the subject with a pronoun?

If you answer "Yes" to both questions, then "Watching television" is a gerund.
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Old 19-May-2006, 01:11
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Smile Re: Those awful Gerunds !!!!!

Thanks again Casiopea.
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