nominal clause embedded in gerund phrase

[candisturdivant]

I wrote the sentence: Studying[gerund] whenever you want to [nominal] will cause you to fail[part of gerund phrase]. What did I do wrong?

[Humble]

Hi Candi,
Grammatically, it looks correct to me. But it's odd otherwise.
Cheers

[MikeNewYork]

I wrote the sentence: Studying[gerund] whenever you want to [nominal] will cause you to fail[part of gerund phrase]. What did I do wrong?

I agree that your sentence is grammatically correct, but I don't agree with your labels.
The simple subject is the gerund "studying". The adverbial clause "whenever you want to" modifies the ferund and creates a gerund phrase as the complete subject. The remainder of the sentence is the predicate, not part of the gerund phrase.

IMO, the sentence would make more sense as:

Studying only when you want to will cause you to fail.