Gerunds, generally, can be confusing- let’s look at what they are:
A gerund is a verb in ing form (going, running, skiing, eating) but it’s being used as a noun. This means it’s not part of a continuous tense (I am going, I was going, etc) but rather it’s a thing on its own. Compare these two sentences:
Present Continuous: I am eating.
Gerund: I don’t like eating. Here the gerund is a noun, in this case, an experience or an activity. The verb in this sentence is like- the sentence is in present simple.
Gerunds can be used in lots of different ways: They can be the subject of the sentence. Walking is one of my favourite things to do at the weekend. Here ‘walking’ is the subject of the sentence-it’s a thing I like to do on the weekend.
Gerunds also often come after a preposition in a sentence. Notice the word often. Much like lots of grammar rules in English, there are exceptions to this, but let’s see some examples.
When a preposition follows a noun, it’s often followed by a gerund: Movies about travelling are some of my favourites. Now, you don’t have to use a gerund here- you could easily use a regular old noun like: Movies about dogs are amazing and really enjoyable.
When a preposition follows a pronoun, it is often followed by a gerund: Thank you for asking me to come to your wedding.
When a preposition follows an adjective, it also usually has a gerund. My friend Orsi is scared of flying. I’m so tired of running!
A very typical exception to this rule is when you use but or except as prepositions (but can also be a conjunction that links two parts of a sentence). This happens when you’re excluding or talking about an exception. After but or except, you need to use an infinitive (verb with to) Check this out:
She had no choice but to ask for help.
I didn’t take a break all morning except to walk the dog.
So, what questions do you have about gerunds? Ask them in the comments!
English Class with Heather 