What is a gerund?

Gerund is a form of the verb that is always used as a noun form.

Another definition of a Gerund

In other words, you can say that a Gerund is a part of the verb which is used as a noun to show the performance of actions.

Look at some examples below.

        1.    I love swimming a lot.

        2.    Rakesh likes writing.

        3.    Bill Gates has a reading habit.

        4.    Smoking is harmful to health.

        5.    He goes driving on Sundays.

Positions of Gerund

There are two positions of a gerund in the English language. You need to know both of these positions first to have their usages at your fingers tips.

      1.   As a Subject:- A gerund can be used as a subject as a noun or a pronoun at the beginning as an engine and lead the rest of the words.

        2.    As an Object:-  A gerund can also be used as an object in the sentences the after the verbs.

Necessary Rules for Gerund

You can’t use a gerund in the sentence without learning it. There are some rules that you must go through at least once to use it grammatically and accurately. I have mentioned some gerund rules and explained them for your easy understanding.

There are going to be 5 rules about the Gerund with detailed examples to let you know the ins and outs of it. These rules will be a panacea for you in terms of Gerund.

Let’s start it now with the amazing 5 rules about gerunds.

Rule No. 1 Preposition + Gerund

Sometimes Gerund is used just after an action verb which is always followed by an appropriate preposition apart from ‘To’ hence prefer a gerund instead of an infinitive.

Now let’s see the gerund examples for the above verbs wherein the first verb is followed by a fixed preposition and takes a gerund just after it.

        1.    My parents prohibited me from going out at late night.

        2.    The boss is always bent on giving multiple projects every day.

        3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi insists on making India a developed country.

        4.    A sadist always takes pleasure in giving pain to others.

        5.    They are interested in grabbing a new career opportunity anywhere.

        6.    He has the hope of visiting the United States once in his life.

        7.    There is no chance of receiving a return call from an H.R.

        8.    Albert Einstein didn’t find any point in learning the dates of primitive actions.

Rule no. 2 Direct Gerund

Direct Gerund is used after the main verbs without anything else. There are some verbs that always take a Gerund instead of an object.

Avoid, mind, detest, can’t help, can’t bear, resist, enjoy, resent, stop, start, postpone, defer, prefer, consider, practice, finish, risk, pardon, excuse, forgive, it is no use/good, propose, miss, imagine, regret, anticipate love, like, hate, dislike, like, continue, etc.

Examples

        1.    They love talking with each other even at late night.

        2.    I can’t help reading books.

        3.    My friend enjoys watching movies on holidays.

        4.    She promised to continue talking with me, come what may.

        5.    He likes listening to music in the morning.

        6.    My teacher never minds asking him my doubts.

        7.    We avoid disturbing others unnecessarily.

        8.    The students prefer learning English via English blogs to going to school.

Rule no. 3 Phrasal verbs + Gerund

There are phrasal verbs in the English language.

If you don’t know what a phrasal verb is. Here you are!

A phrasal verb is a combination of two or more than two words wherein one is an action verb and the rest of them are either adverbs or prepositions.

Give up, put off, set about, look forward to, go along with, feel up to, end up, go around, adapt to, etc.

Examples

        1.    He gave up smoking and drinking after a heart attack.

        2.    She feels up to keeping pace with me at work.

        3.    Neha is adapted to working till late at night.

        4.    We will never end up talking with each other.

        5.    She went around looking for me.

Rule no. 4 Possessive Case + Gerund

This rule has a unique significance in English grammar. If you want to use a gerund with a noun or pronoun, always use its possessive adjective and possessive case of a noun only then it will be an accurate use of it.

Possessive case of adjective: my, our, your, their, her, his, its, etc.

Possessive case of a noun: it needs the help of apostrophe (’S)

Examples Rahul’s, Einstein’s, Modi’s, teacher’s etc.

Examples

        1.    We appreciate our children’s performing well in the class.

        2.    I always like her calling me.

        3.    Mr. Jackson prohibited my entering the class late.

        4.    She likes my talking to her.

        5.    Her father never minds her friend’s coming to their home.

        6.    They postponed his going to America for personal reasons.

Rule no. 5 To + Gerund

This can be a bit surprising for you after going through the previous part about Participle and usages. There were rules about infinitives (To + V1 infinitive), but here is a different rule to use a gerund just after ‘To’.

There are some exceptions in the English language. These are some limited rules phrases that end with a ‘To’ preposition and prefer a Gerund just after them.

Owing to, taken to, disposed to, prone to, look forward to, in addition to, averse to, with a view to, devoted to, object to, be used to, accustomed to, etc.

Examples

1.   We are used to fighting a lot. ( shows a habitor an addiction)

2.   They are taken to making the same mistake over and over again.

         3.    They look forward to discussing the company in the meeting.

4.    Indian soldiers are devoted to serving the nation willingly.

5.   He joined an English class in addition to learning English grammar step to step.

I hope that these 5 simple rules helped you learn the uses of gerund in English grammar easily. In case you still have any doubt about how you can use them, kindly let us know with the help of a comment below. I assure you of replying to your comments at the earliest.

Thanks for reading these useful rules.