In English, a gerund is a nounNo definition set for nounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. for an action or an activity that ends in -ing. Gerunds are formed by adding -ing to a verbNo definition set for verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., as in swimming, cleaning, or eating. But because gerunds are nouns, we use them where you would use a noun, for example:
In this post we’ll be looking at how to make a gerund, how to use them in sentences, some cases where you’ll need to use a gerund, and a couple of common problems English learners sometimes encounter with gerunds.
Learning about gerunds will help you in moving forward with your English, so let’s get started on that now!
How to form a gerund in English?
To form a gerund in English, add -ing to the rootNo definition set for rootLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of the verb: root + -ing.
Whenever you add an ending that begins with a vowel to an English word, there are some spelling rules you’ll need to follow. For example:
The final -e of the stemNo definition set for stemLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. is deleted:
The final consonant of the stem is sometimes doubled:
Have a look at this list of spelling rules for adding English suffixes to review the details. Luckily, these are only for spelling, and they do not affect the pronunciation!
Almost all verbs follow exactly the rule above, but there are two special groups:
Modal verbsNo definition set for Modal verbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. (can, could, might, should, etc.) are the only verbs that do not have a gerund form. We’ll talk a little more about this below!
To form the gerund of a phrasal verbNo definition set for phrasal verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. like clean up or move over, add -ing only to the verb part:
What is a gerund phrase?
A gerund phrase is a gerund plus some associated words, like…
You can use gerund phrases anywhere you can use a regular gerund. Advanced English speakers will learn how to form very long gerund phrases, like this:
Sandra’s forgetting to make her children’s lunches last Friday made them late for school.
But these long gerund phrases are mostly used in academic or formal writing.
How to use a gerund in an English sentence?
Gerunds are nouns, so you can use them anywhere where you would use a noun in an English sentence, for example:
as the subject of a sentence:
Reading helps you to relax.
Running a marathon made me tired.
as an object of a verb (lots more on this below!):
My brother taught me gardening.
after a preposition:
I can watch TV after doing my homework.
Kendra was afraid of missing the train.
We all have some interest in touring Italy.
English gerunds are mass nounsNo definition set for mass nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. So they follow these classic rules:
They do not take the plural -s.
→ The object of a gerund can be plural!
When a gerund is the subject, the verb is in its singular form.
Gardening has taught me to understand nature better.
Guessing is not as good as being sure.
Swimming was my hobby when I was growing up.
They do not use the indefinite article a/an.
❌ I used to enjoy a fishing.
✅ I used to enjoy fishing.
Check out our post on count vs. mass nouns in English to review even more!
When to use the gerund as the object of a verb in English?
Many English verbs that represent something you can do to an action or situation will take a gerund as their object. For example:
verbgerund
She imagined baking cookies.
Here is a short list of English verbs that commonly take gerund objects:
But be careful! Not all verbs that are done to actions or situations can take gerunds as their objects! Some verbs will take an infinitive verb (to + root) instead.
Unfortunately, the only way to know if you need a gerund or an infinitive is to learn the verb.
Check out our post on English verbs that take infinitives to learn more, or have a look at this English verb complement reference sheet to see some examples.
There are some verbs that can come either before a gerund or before an infinitive:
✅ I like walking. / ✅ I like to walk.
✅ I continued swimming. / ✅ I continued to swim.
What is the difference?
With most verbs (e.g. love, like, hate, prefer, try, begin, cease, continue, start) there no real difference between using the infinitive or the gerund.
With some verbs that have more than one meaning, like remember or forget, the infinitive is used with one meaning and the gerund is used with another.
I remembered to turn off the oven.
→ I did not forget to turn off the oven.
I remembered turning off the oven.
→ I imagined a picture of what it looked like when I turned off the oven.
Check out our verb + gerund vs. verb + infinitive reference sheet for more information on verbs that can come before either gerunds or infinitives.
There are verbs (e.g. learn, choose, ...) that cannot come before gerunds, but often come before other nouns that end in -ing. For example:
❌ I learned running a marathon.
→ Here, running a marathon is a gerund. It represents a specific action.
✅ I learned painting from Mrs. Morris.
→ Here, painting represents class or skill. You could replace it with other nouns for skills, like tennis, English, math, or yoga.
Can an English gerund describe another noun?
A gerund can describe or modify a noun in English, in the same way that nouns can modify other nouns. For example:
Gerund modifier:These are my running shoes.
→ shoes for running
When a gerund modifies a noun, it tells you what type of noun it is, just as other English nouns that describe nouns do!
English present participles also end in -ing and can describe nouns, but notice that there is a difference in meaning! A present participle tells you what the noun it describes is doing while the gerund tells you what type of noun it is:
Gerund modifier:These are my running shoes.
→ shoes for running
Participle modifier:→ a horse that is running
Keep reading to learn more about gerunds vs. present participles!
Gerunds vs. other words that end in ‘-ing’
Not all words that end with the suffix -ing are gerunds! There are two main groups of words that are easy to confuse with gerunds: present participles and other nouns that end in -ing.
Gerunds vs. present participles
Gerunds and present participles look exactly the same, and every verb that has a gerund form will also have a present participle form:
Gerund: root + -ing (e.g. swimming, running, talking)
Present participle: root + -ing (e.g. swimming, running, talking)
The difference is that where gerunds are nouns, present participles are used:
As adjectives (to describe something that a noun is doing):
The boys playing hockey outside are very noisy!
In continuous tensesNo definition set for continuous tensesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of verbs:
That baby will be sleeping.
That baby has been sleeping.
That baby is being put to bed.
Have a look at our post on participles in English to learn more!
Gerunds vs. other ‘-ing’ nouns
There are nouns that end in -ing that are not gerunds. Most of these are nouns that come from gerunds, but now have some additional meaning. For example:
Painting is my favorite activity. → Painting is an action. | There is a beautiful painting on the wall. → Painting is a piece of art that was created by painting. |
I remember recording that song. → Recording is an action. | My favorite recording was playing on the stereo. → Recording is an object that was recorded. |
I liked sewing in Home Economics class. → Sewing is an action that I enjoyed. | I learned sewing in Home Economics class. → Sewing is a skill or a subject, like math or English. |
You can usually find nouns that end in -ing that are not gerunds listed in a dictionary as independent words, because their meaning is not entirely predictable.
Nouns that end in -ing that are not gerunds are often considered “action nouns” but they are not gerunds, and so while they can be used to create action noun phrases, they can’t be used to form gerund phrases. To learn more about the difference, check out our post on noun phrases for actions in English!
Summing up
Okay, the basic thing you need to remember is:
A gerund is a noun for “the act of” doing a verb.
Gerunds are formed like this: root + -ing.
Certain verbs take gerunds as objects, but be careful because some verbs take infinitives instead.
Present participles look exactly like gerunds, but they have a different meaning and use in English. If it isn’t a noun for an action, it’s not a gerund!
If you’d like to see how well you make and use gerunds, why not check out the gerund activities I’ve written up for you?
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