He is w

orking

They are playing

They

are d

ancin

g

He is s

wimming

She is ru

nning

He is d

rinkin

g

It is F

lying

He is eatin

g

GERUNDSBy Miguel Villegas

Gerunds in English correspond in form to participles (going, swimming, studying, playing, etc).

Gerunds, however, are always used as nouns, as subjects, direct objects of verbs, etc. Example:

Swimming is a good exercise. He enjoys playing the piano.

Gerunds are ing verbs that are used as nouns. In these examples, the gerund is the subject of the sentence:

Crying can make your eyes red. Dancing is a good exercise.

A gerund phrase can also be used as a noun. Example:

Eating chocolate is good for you. Smoking cigarettes is bad for you.

Certain verbs in English are always followed by gerunds and never by infinitives. These verbs are: enjoy, mind, stop, avoid, consider, finish, deny, admit, and risk. Example:

We are considering taking a trip to Chicago.He has stopped studying English.

A number of verbs in English may be followed by either a gerung or an infinitive. The following verbs are of this group: begin, continue, like, intend, prefer, hate, etc.

Example: He likes to study with us. He likes studying with us.

Since gerunds are always used as nouns, they frequendly used in English as objects of prepositions. Example:

Helen is fond of dancing. He instisted on going. It is a question of finding the right book.

THANK YOU!