Contributor: Allison Crews. Lesson ID: 13726
Learn all about gerunds and how to use them in this grammar lesson!
Can you guess the gerund in this sentence:
Singing is my favorite hobby.
Read on to see if you're right!
If so, you're right!
Take a look:
Is is the verb.
My favorite hobby is a noun phrase acting as the object.
That leaves only singing, which is acting as a noun (the identifier of the activity), and it is also the subject of the sentence.
What Are Gerunds?
When a verb acts as another part of speech, it is called a verbal.
There are three types of verbal:
Example: My singing hobby is my favorite.
In this example, singing is modifying the noun hobby.
Example: Singing is my favorite hobby.
Example: To sing is my favorite hobby.
In this example, to sing is serving the same purpose as singing in the above example.
Since gerunds are verbals, they are based on verbs. That means they express an action or state of being.
Since they function as nouns, they can occupy any position in which a noun would appear in a sentence. That means they can be subjects (as above), objects, subject complements, or objects of prepositions.
Take a look at gerunds in each of these roles:
Walking is acting as a noun and is the subject of the sentence.
Listening is acting as a noun and is the object of the sentence because it tells what must be practiced.
Surveying is the subject complement, which is a noun that follows a linking verb and describes or identifies the subject.
Painting is acting as a noun and is the object of the preposition.
Practice
Identify what role the gerund is playing in each of the sentences below.
Great work!
Now you're ready to try some guided practice with gerunds!
Click through to the Got It? section to check it out.
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