Gerund

What are Gerunds?

Gerund - a word that acts as a noun, but has some characteristics of verb too. Hence, it is a Verb-Noun.

It is formed by adding –ing to a verb (denoted by ‘$V_1$ + ing’).

Reading is my hobby. (reading is a Gerund formed from the Verb read)

How is Gerund a Verb-Noun?

Respecting our parents is our duty.
respecting – gerund working as noun is the subject of the verb ‘is’. But, like a verb it also takes an object (respecting whom? – our parents).

Lance Klusener loves making money quickly.
making – gerund working as noun is the object of the verb ‘loves’. But, like a verb it also takes an object (making what? – money). Also, just as a verb, it is modified by an adverb (quickly).

So, we can see that an gerund is a kind of noun with certain features of verb, such as:

• it can take an object (when the verb used to make the gerund is transitive) and
• it can have adverbial qualifiers.

Also, since it is a verb, it can not be qualified by an adjective. It can also not be preceded by an article.

Gerund Phrase 

Gerund Phrase - a group of words consisting of a gerund and the modifier(s)

Driving recklessly on hilly terrains is a bad idea. (Driving recklessly on hilly terrains - gerund phrase working as subject)

Gerund after phrasal verbs

Gerunds can be used after phrasal verbs (phrasal verbs are composed of a verb + preposition or adverb):

Mark really wants to give up smoking. (smoking - gerund)
He kept on asking for money. (asking - gerund)

Negative Gerund

In the negative, ’not’ usually comes before the gerund:

Not knowing what to do in exam, the student had an anxiety attack. (knowing - gerund)

Sometimes, instead of the gerund, the verb in the main clause is negative:

I like getting up late.
I don’t like getting up late.

Gerund as various parts of speech

Unlike infinitives and participles, a Gerund or a Gerund phrase always functions as a noun.

Swimming is fun. (swimming – noun, working as the subject of the verb ’is’)
I like swimming. (swimming – noun, working as the direct object of the verb ’like’)

As a struggling model, he gave acting a try. (acting – noun, working as the indirect object of the verb ‘gave’)

Gerunds can be used to make compound nouns:
For example: swimming pool, bird-watching

Gerund as various parts of a sentence

Apart from working as a subject or an object in a sentence, an infinitive can also function as:

Bolt’s desire for running grew over time. (running– object of the preposition ‘for’)
Seeing is believing. (believing - subject complement)
Anand’s main interest is working with animals. (working with animals – gerund phrase working as subject complement)

Gerund and Tense

As infinitive is a non-finite verb, so it has no tense – present, past, future. It depends on the finite verb to give a time reference.

He is swimming in the pool. (‘is’ provides the present time reference)
He was swimming in the pool. (‘was’ provides the past time reference)
He will like swimming in the pool. (‘will like’ provides the future time reference)

Gerund and Aspect (The forms of the gerund)

Though gerund has no tense, but it can have aspect (i.e. indefinite, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous).

Aspect of a gerund shows the temporal relationship between the action expressed by the gerund and the time of the preceding verb.

There are two types/forms of gerund (which showcases various aspects), each of which has an active and passive form:

• Simple gerund – active and passive
• Perfect gerund – active and passive

Simple gerund

This is the basic gerund form most students are familiar with.

Simple gerund can refer to the same time as that of the main verb:
Aanya suggested going back to our campuses. (going refers to the same time as suggested)

Simple gerund can also refer to a time before that of the main verb (when it is clear that an earlier time is meant):
Meenakshi regretted not working harder when she was offered a job. (not working refers to a time before regretted)

Perfect gerund

Perfect gerund: having + Past participle, e.g. having rested, having completed, having gone.

Perfect gerund refers to a time before that of the verb in the main clause. But we use it only if the time of action denoted by the gerund is not obvious from the context (if it is clear then we use the simple gerund).

Deepak bluntly denied having been married. (having been - perfect gerund; it refers to a time before denied)

Passive forms of gerund

• Passive simple gerund: being + Past participle
  The king never gets fed up of being praised. (being praised - Passive simple gerund)

• Passive perfect gerund: having been + Past participle
  The project manager is upset about having been criticized. (having been criticized – Passive perfect gerund)

Extra Books and Tools

If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.