If you’re learning English, you’ve definitely come across “-ing” words before. But what are they and how are they used?
First things first, they’re called gerunds. They may look like verbs but they act as nouns in the sentence. For example, in the sentence “swimming is my favorite hobby,” “swimming” is a gerund. It comes from the verb “to swim” but in this sentence, it talks about a hobby, not the action of swimming.
Before we dive in, I’d like to highlight that this article will focus on gerunds, not the present continuous tense. The latter is a verb tense that also uses “-ing,” describing the actions you are doing right now. For example, in the sentence “I am swimming,” “am swimming” is a verb, indicating that at the time of writing the sentence, you’re enjoying some time in a pool, sea, or lake!
What Is a Gerund?
A gerund is a verb form that acts like a noun. To form a gerund, you add “-ing” at the end of the verb. But that’s not it — your “verb + ing” must act as a noun in the sentence to be considered a gerund.
Here are some examples:
- Singing is my passion.
- Hiking is my favorite activity.
- Going to the gym is how she starts her day.
All the sentences above start with a gerund. Although their root word is a verb, they act as nouns. For example, the sentence “singing is my passion,” is about the passion a person has for singing, not the activity of singing itself.
You’ll also come across gerund phrases, which may include objects, complements, or modifiers attached to the gerund. Here is an example:
- Camping in the wilderness is my favorite summer activity.
Here, the full gerund phrase is “camping in the wilderness”. “Camping” is our main gerund, while “in the wilderness” is a prepositional phrase modifying and describing it. This sentence is about someone who particularly enjoys “camping in the wilderness,” not just camping.
Here’s another sentence:
- She loves reading mystery novels before bed.
This time, our gerund phrase is “reading mystery novels before bed.” In this phrase, the gerund “reading” is accompanied by “mystery novels before bed,” giving us more information about what type of books the person likes to read and when she prefers reading them.
As you can see, gerund phrases let you pack a lot of information into your sentences. You can use them to add detail to your sentences and show some personality. A lot of people enjoy “watching movies.” But “watching action movies as a New Year’s Eve tradition” will be way fewer people!
Example Sentences with Different Types of Gerunds
You’ll spot gerunds in different grammatical roles, as a subject, subject complement, object, or object of a preposition. I know this sounds complicated, and you don’t have to identify what type of gerund each sentence has! But it’s useful to know that you can use gerunds in different parts of the sentence.
For example, it’s super common to use gerunds after the verbs “to love,” “to like,” and “to hate” — take “I love swimming,” for example. Here, “swimming” is the object, giving us more information about what the person loves. When they act as objects in similar scenarios, gerunds give us more information about feelings toward an activity.
Let’s take a look at the following sentences with gerunds:
| Sentence | Gerund/Gerund Phrase | Type of Gerund | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Walking is good for your health.” | “Walking” | Subject | |
| “Cooking dinner every night can be tiring.” | “Cooking dinner every night” (Our gerund phrase is “cooking dinner every night,” as it’s the tiring activity according to the sentence) |
Subject | |
| “She enjoys hiking on weekends.” | “Hiking on weekends” | Object | |
| “They can’t imagine living without their smartphones!” | “Living without their smartphones” | Object | |
| “I love sleeping under the stars.” | “Sleeping under the stars” | Object | |
| She exercises before going to work. | “Going to work” | Object (of the preposition before) | |
| “After finishing his exams, he went out with his friends.” | “Finishing his exams” | Object (of the preposition after) | |
| “Your favorite hobby is knitting colorful scarves.” | “Knitting colorful scarves” | Subject complement (gives more information about the subject, in this case “your favorite hobby”) |
How to Form Gerunds in English
It’s pretty easy to form gerunds in English. You’ll only need to add “-ing” to the infinitive form of the verb. While many verbs are regular, there are some exceptions, such as “to have” that becomes “having” instead of “haveing.”
Here are some common verbs in infinitive and gerund forms, with example gerund sentences:
| Infinitive Verb | Gerund | Example Gerund Sentence | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| to be | being | Being on time is important. | |
| to do | doing | I prioritize doing my homework after school. | |
| to eat | eating | I love eating with chopsticks. | |
| to drink | drinking | He quit drinking two years ago. | |
| to go | going | They talked about going skiing this winter. | |
| to know | knowing | Knowing a second language is useful. | |
| to work | working | Working from home has its perks. | |
| to run | running | Running is great cardio exercise. | |
| to try | trying | Trying new things keeps life exciting. | |
| to take | taking | Taking notes helps you remember things. | |
| to think | thinking | Try thinking outside the box. | |
| to write | writing | Consider writing a journal to feel better. |
Gerund vs Infinitive: How Do You Know Which One to Choose?
In English, some verbs are followed by the gerund form, while others require infinitives. For example, “love” is one of the verbs we use with gerunds. After you use the verb “love,” your next verb will need to be in gerund form. You can see this in the sentence “I love running,” where “running” is in the gerund form (verb + ing).
Other verbs require the infinitive. “Decide” is a good example — “I decided to go to the party” sounds better than “I decided going to the party.” As you practice, you’ll become a natural at spotting which verbs use the gerund and which use the infinitive.
Until then, you can take a look at the lists below, so you’ll familiarize yourself with the verbs that require gerund and infinitive. Let’s start with gerunds:
These verbs are followed by a gerund:
| Verb | Example Sentence | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| to love | I love running in the morning. | |
| to like | She likes painting in her free time. | |
| to avoid | He avoids talking about his problems. | |
| to consider | They are considering moving to a new city. | |
| to miss | She misses living near the ocean. | |
| to mind | Do you mind switching seats with me? | |
| to hate | I hate cleaning the bathroom. | |
| to keep | You keep complaining about the weather. | |
| to start | I started working when I was 18. | |
| to finished | She finished reading the book last night. |
As for infinitives, it is even easier to form them. You just leave the verb as it is. Here are some common verbs that need to be followed by a verb in infinitive form:
These verbs are followed by an infinitive:
| Verb | Example Sentence | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| to decide | I decided to go to sleep early today. | |
| to hope | She hopes to start her new job next week. | |
| to need | You need to exercise more. | |
| to agree | We agreed to meet for lunch. | |
| to want | Do you want to come to my party tomorrow? | |
| to learn | He learned to play the piano when he was young. | |
| to fail | They failed to pass the exam. | |
| to choose | We chose to stay home tonight. | |
| to offer | She offered to help me with my move. |
Learning these common verbs is a good way to start! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes — it will soon become easier to recognize whether you need to use gerund or infinitive!
Did You Enjoy Learning about Gerunds?
Yes, there’s a gerund in the title above. And yes, gerunds are everywhere! Now that you know what they are, you can start using them confidently while speaking English.
Read books, listen to podcasts, or take free online lessons to make your speech more natural. This way, you’ll know when to use gerund and when to use the infinitive, and broaden your English vocabulary!
