Gerunds

[yeng23]

giv me pls an example of a gerund!

because i'm confused with a gerund and a verb!

i hope u can answer my question be4 our test!(oct.24, 25, 26)
!.!.!.!

[Horsa]

Yes, it can be confusing.

Basically, a gerund is a verb form ending in 'ing' that is used like a noun. So for example:

Swimming is great!

or

She enjoys swimming.

In these sentences 'Swimming' is a gerund - if we replace it with a noun such as 'Ice cream' we get correct sentences.

Ice cream is great!

or

She enjoys ice cream.


So as you can see in these sentences 'Swimming' is used just like a noun.

You may also notice that in the above sentences there is no verb 'be' in front of the word 'Swimming' if this were a progressive/continuous verb there would be. The above sentences are all in the present simple.

Let's look at a different sentence.

Peter is swimming in the pool.

When we try to replace this with a noun such as ice cream we get -

*/Peter ice cream in the pool./*

or if we leave the verb 'is' in the sentence we get -

*/Peter is ice cream in the pool./*

Neither of these make sense because here 'swimming' is a progressive/continuous verb and the sentence 'Peter is swimming in the pool.' is in the present continuous.

[yeng23]

Tnx Horsa. . . i learn something. . hope i can get perfect in my test!. . .