GERUNDS

 PrObfvvv serves the present participles are used as verbs and adjectives. 

 Observe the following sentences Look at these sentences: 

He is smoking a cigarette. ( verb )

There was a crumbling wall in the backyard. (adjective)

Smoking is injurious to health. (noun)

GERUND:

When a present participle is used as a noun, it is called Gerund.

👉 We should not mistake a gerund for the present participle of a verb. The present participle comes along with the verb be to form the present continuous tense and the past continuous tense.

Eg:

I am eating a banana. ( The Present Continuous Tense )

I was eating a banana. ( The Past Continuous Tense )

She is running four miles tomorrow. ( The Present Continuous Tense )

She was running four miles when I observed her on the ground.  ( The Past Continuous Tense )

We are working together to solve this problem. ( The Present Continuous Tense )

We were working together to solve this problem when my mother interrupted us.  ( The Past Continuous Tense )

👉 A rough and ready rule to identify a gerund in a sentence:

 When a word or phrase is replaced by a normal noun, it gives the grammatical sense, we can understand it is a gerund. If it is not so, it is a present participle.

 Careful observation and practice help learners to understand this.

 Eg:

My friend is working with me as a sleeping partner. (gerund)

Here, sleeping is used as a noun.

A sleeping man does not know what is happening around him. (participle)

Here, sleeping is used as an adjective.

 USES

👉 Gerund as the subject of a verb:

Eg:

Swimming is good for your health. ( gerund only)

Eating fruits gives you pleasure along with energy. ( gerund and object )

Walking fast on the sand makes you tired. (gerund and adverb )

Watching horror movies may cause anxiety in you. ( gerund, adjective and noun )

Working from home made some professionals give a dull performance. (gerund and prepositional phrase )

👉 Gerund as a Present participle clause:

Sometimes, the present participles can be used to create dependent clauses which modify the remaining sentence. These are called Present Participle Clauses.

Eg:

Sleeping in the classroom, I was unaware of my teacher entering the class.

Having drunk the milk, I could not wish to take it again.

👉 Gerund as an object of a verb:

Eg:

We hate driving.

He tried calling for a long time.

I love teaching young minds.

👉 Gerund as an object of a preposition:

These objects of preposition come forth at the beginning or in the middle or at the end of the sentence.

Eg:

After bathing, I usually get the sweat.

My mother is against taking me to the marriage.

She started singing after long days of practising.

She is fond of playing.

👉 The gerund in compound nouns:

Eg:

Everyone has a dying wish.

I bought a frying pan yesterday for my sister.

👉 Gerund and Infinitive are replaceable to give the meaning of a noun.

Eg:

Teach him to draw. = Teach him drawing.

To forgive is a divine quality. = Forgiving is a divine quality.

But some verbs (action verbs ) are followed only by gerunds and not infinitives. This can be known only by referring to different texts. For an instance:

Eg:

I suggest to read this book when you are in great distress.  ✖

I suggest reading this book when you are in great distress. ✔

👉 Compound gerunds can be formed by placing Past participles after (have and be) gerunds.

Eg:

We are fatigued because of having walked for a long distance.

She is desirous of being praised.

👉 The gerund is a verbal noun when it has the force of a verb and noun.

Eg:

The children are fond of jumping into the pond.

We are tired of counting papers.

👉 The Present participle is a verbal adjective when it has the force of an adjective and a verb.

Eg:

Playing games is good for your health.

Painting pictures is a great skill.

👉 Gerunds are used in possessive cases and objective cases (noun/pronoun) in the same sense.

Eg:

Do you mind my closing the window? (Possessive Case)

Do you mind me closing the window? (Objective Case)

I do not like Ramu's questioning my rights. (PC)

I do not like Ramu questioning my rights. (OC)

👉 Gerunds are not used in possessive case and objective case before -ing forms when the person is clear.

Eg:

Thank you for your watching. ✖

Thank you for watching. ✔

👉 But the possessive case is not used with stative verbs like see, think, feel, own, etc. The only objective case is used.

Eg:

We saw his drawing a picture. ✖

We saw him drawing a picture.   ✔

👉 Sometimes -ing forms may have their objects. Here, they are not gerunds. They are verbs.

Eg:

Reading books is a good habit.

Here, reading is a verb and books is an object of the verb reading.

Collecting stamps is her favourite activity.

Here, collecting is the verb and stamps is the object of the verb collecting.

👉 When an -ing form is used with an article, we need to add "of" structure before the object.

Eg:

The reading of biographies is a good habit.

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