What
is a gerund?
Gerund is a form of verb which is always
used as a noun form.
Another
definition for a Gerund
In other words, you can say that a Gerund
is a part of 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 reading habit.
4. Smoking
is harmful to health.
5. He
goes for 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 its
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 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 accurate. I have mentioned some gerund rules and explained them
for your easy understandings.
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 gerund.
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.
Disqualify from |
Justified in |
Bent on |
Refrain from |
Hesitate in |
Keen on |
Prevent from |
Harm in |
Insist on |
Debar from |
Assist in |
Intent on |
Desist from |
Sense in |
Desirous of |
Restrain from |
Interested in |
Confident of |
Prohibit from |
Successful in |
A chance of |
Dissuade from |
Succeed in |
Fond of |
Abstain from |
Persist in |
Blame for |
Deter from |
Confidence in |
Believe in |
Absolve from |
Point in |
Approve of |
Feel pleasure in |
Take pleasure in |
A hope of |
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. The
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 a 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 dates of primitive actions.
Rule
no. 2 Direct Gerund
Direct Gerund is used after the main verbs
without anything else. There are some verbs which 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 me to continue talking with me, come what may.
5. He
likes listening to music at 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 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 in the work.
3. Neha
is adapted to working till late 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 rules has a unique significance in
the English grammar. If you want to use a gerund with a noun or pronoun, always
use its possessive adjective and possessive case of 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 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 a personal reason.
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 infinitive (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 which end with ‘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 habit
or an addiction)
2.
They are taken to making the same mistake over and
over again.
3. They
look forward to discussing
about the company in the meeting.
4.
Indian soldiers are
devoted to serving for the
nation willingly.
5. He joined 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 on 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.
0 Comments