What is a GERUND Confusing English Grammar
well hey there i’m emma from
english what is a gerund
do you know i can tell you that i didn’t
even know what a gerund was
before i started studying to be a
teacher
but native english speakers use gerunds
a lot in english all the time whether we
realize it or not
so it’s important that you understand
them too and in today’s lesson
i’m going to show you how
[Music]
okay i’m going to start by answering
your question
in the simplest way possible what is a
gerund
gerunds look like a verb but they’re
actually a noun
okay perhaps you still don’t know what
that means
we all know that a verb is an action
right we do a verb for example
i jog every morning but sometimes
i just want to talk about an action not
do it
jogging is one of my favorite ways to
exercise
i love jogging i’m talking about
jogging as an action i’m not jogging
right now
i’m just talking about something that i
love to do
so in other words i’m referring to the
action of jogging as a noun or a thing
so i’ve just used the gerund that’s a
gerund
i used a word that looks like a verb
as a noun so that’s not too difficult
is it and if you think this video will
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so how can we recognize the gerund
what does it look like well the gerund
is
formed by adding ing to the base form of
a verb
or the bare infinitive form
so the base form is jog
with ing jogging
i love jogging jog is the base form
jogging is the gerund so obviously
the reason why this is confusing is
because
this looks a lot like the continuous
form of the verb
right so to recognize a gerund you need
to pay attention to
how it’s used in a sentence and i’ve got
a test for you
i absolutely love singing but performing
in public
makes me really nervous standing on a
stage in front of a crowd
is terrifying so did you hear
all of those gerunds did you recognize
them
let’s take a closer look i absolutely
love
singing but performing in public makes
me
really nervous standing on stage in
front of a crowd
is terrifying okay
so far we’ve learned generally what a
gerund is
and how to make a gerund
so here’s the next question
when and how do we use gerunds
just like nouns gerunds can be used in
many different situations
they can be used as the subject of a
sentence
the object of a sentence they can be
used after prepositions
they can be used with fixed expressions
and
we can sometimes use a gerund after
another verb
that’s a lot of different possibilities
so let’s break them down
together firstly you can use a gerund
when you want to use a verb
as the subject of a sentence or a phrase
volunteering is a great way to give back
to your community
eating fruits and vegetables is
important for a healthy diet
studying gerunds doesn’t have to be
frustrating
okay so now it’s your turn i want you to
write a sentence
in the comments below this video to
practice
tell me what can be frustrating
or what else is important to your health
write a sentence write an answer to that
question
in the comments below this video and
make sure you’re using
a gerund not just a noun we’re
practicing gerunds today right
pause the video if you need to but tell
me
what frustrates you in the comments
next you can use a gerund as the object
of a sentence
now there are some very common verbs
that take gerunds as
objects love like
enjoy prefer
dislike hate
all of these verbs can be followed by a
gerund
i really like cooking but my fiance is a
much better cook than me
she really enjoys taking pictures of
sunsets
i prefer buying meat from my local
butcher
okay it’s your turn now what do you
dislike
doing what do you prefer doing
write your sentence in the comments
below
when you see a verb after a preposition
it’s actually often a gerund you
remember prepositions right i talked
about them
here in this lesson if you need a
refresher
they’re words like on at in
under behind without
she walked out of the room without
saying
a word and so these rules about
prepositions
include expressions that end in
prepositions
like in spite of
in spite of training for years she got
knocked out of the tournament in the
first round
there’s no pointing there’s no point in
taking your jacket it’s really hot
outside
fed up with i’m fed up with asking you
to
be quiet there are some really common
expressions that are followed by gerunds
too
really you do just need to memorize
these ones
like can’t help i can’t help being a
perfectionist
can’t stand i can’t stand
working with people who always show up
late
it’s no use it’s no use leaving a
message
she never calls back anyway
to be worth it’s not worth
spending so much money
these are all really common expressions
that are followed by
a gerund and guess what
it’s your turn again it’s your turn to
write a sentence
what are some of the things that you
can’t stand
doing write it in the comments below
now you may also see gerunds used
after another verb now
some verbs can be followed by a gerund
or the two infinitive and this can be a
little confusing
because actually choosing one or the
other
can change the overall meaning of a
sentence
because in one sentence the word is a
noun
and in the other it’s a verb so for
example
i’ll never forget driving along the
coast of sicily it was
truly stunning
don’t forget to take your grandma to the
supermarket
i’ve actually opened a can of worms
there
so i’ve made an extra lesson a separate
lesson about
gerunds and infinitives and you can
watch it right here
on the um english channel next week it’s
going to be
my next lesson so i’ll go over more
details about the difference between
infinitives and gerunds in that lesson
make sure you subscribe so you don’t
miss it
so let’s practice what we’ve learned
already in this lesson
i want you to find the gerund in each of
the examples that i’m about to put
here and tell me is it being used as
a subject an object
after a preposition or with an
expression it’s no use avoiding him
he’ll keep asking you until you say yes
what’s the gerund avoiding right and
it’s a gerund used with a common
expression
it’s no use it’s no use of voiding
it’s no use asking
do you feel like watching a horror movie
or a romantic film
which is the gerund and it’s a gerund
used as an object isn’t it
not realizing that one of my kids is
sick is one of my biggest fears
so the gerund is realizing
and it’s a gerund use as a subject
used as a subject in spite of being
injured
she still managed to finish the marathon
so the gerund is being
and it’s a gerund used after a
preposition
so do you feel a little more confident
about gerunds now
i’m gonna go down into the comments and
check your sentences now
so i can make sure that you’ve been
using your gerunds correctly
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topics
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channel
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just like these ones i’ll see you in the
next lesson