The Gerund

Tommy: Hello, guys! Welcome to our grammar lessons!

My best friends Maddie, Kristie and Martin will help me make our lessons useful and enjoyable.

We’re going on holidays soon. But we haven’t chosen the place where to go yet. Maddie found an advertisement of the travel agency in the Internet. Let’s read it.

Are you tired of spending your holiday in the same place as everyone else?

Are you bored with doing the same things year after year?

Are you fed up with arranging everything yourself?

If you have answered “yes” to more than one of our questions, then: Let us help you!

It’s easy to have the best holiday ever! Just ask us to do anything you like – we are used to dealing even with the most unusual requests!

We can make all the arrangements for the holiday of your dreams and offer lots of fresh ideas.

So, why wait?

Come and see us or give us a ring.

We look forward to seeing you!

GLOBETROTTERS TRAVEL AGENCY

Tommy: Sounds good! I believe, we should go there!

What part of speech are the highlighted words? Nouns? Adjectives? Or maybe participles?

None of these.

In the lesson today you will learn what the so-called –ing form or – gerund is like.

Then you’ll get to know the use of gerund after certain words and word combinations.

And finally you’ll practice the rule with Martin.

Gerund is a non-finite form of the verb (неопределённая форма глагола).

Gerund (often known as an -ing form) is a noun formed from a verb by adding -ing.

But not all words formed with -ing are gerunds!

Participle (причастие)

He saw a girl dancing in the center. – Он увидел девушку, танцующую в центре.

A rising sun was hidden in the clouds. – Встающее солнце было спрятано за облаками.

Arriving at the airport he saw his friend. – Прибыв в аэропорт, он увидел своего друга.

Noun (существительное)

Firstly, nouns are used with definite and indefinite articles.

We're going to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Secondly, nouns have plural forms.

Those are very nice paintings.

Finally, nouns can be defined by pronouns or adjectives.

This story has a rather unexpected ending.

an old saying; loud singing of the birds; the loading of the goods; railroad crossings; his comings and goings.

Adjective

An adjective usually defines a noun.

This movie is so exciting!

She came home after a tiring journey.

His speech was boring.

Gerunds can be formed from most verbs (except modal verbs):

E.g.

swim - swimming, catch - catching, see - seeing, do - doing, cycle - cycling, paint – painting.

Gerund has the following tense forms.

The Simple –ing form refers to the present or future.

Children are fond of playing X-Box.

The Perfect –ing form shows that the action of the –ing form happened before the action of the verb.

She learnt of his having taken the 1st prize.

We can use the simple -ing form instead of the perfect –ing form with no difference in meaning.

He thanked them for inviting / having invited him.

The gerund is used in the following cases:

1. After certain verbs

E.g.

We all appreciate your helping us.

He avoids meeting us.

I don’t mind waiting.

I spend much time trying to help him.

They go skating and skiing every winter.

That boy denied breaking his neighbour’s window.

2. After verbs that express likes/dislikes to express general preference: (like, dislike, enjoy, love, prefer, hate).

E.g.

I prefer sleeping with a light on.

He enjoys cooking Italian food.

They love inviting people for dinner.

The twins hate being apart.

3. After prepositions (after, before, besides, instead of, in spite of, on, without, by).

E.g.

You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs.

I switched off the light before leaving.

He surprised us by saying a few words first in Chinese and then in French.

What did he do today besides playing computer games?

He went to the meeting in spite of feeling sick.

4. After verbs followed by prepositions:

E.g.

He insisted on training more for the contest.

Excuse me for disturbing you.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

He was dreaming of becoming a pop star.

My mother objected to having a dog in the house.

He apologized for being late.

5. After phrasal verbs:

give up

burst out

go on

keep on

leave off

E.g.

They went on passing the ball.

His parents told him to give up smoking.

The audience burst out laughing when the clown fell down.

7. After adjectives followed by prepositions:

E.g.

She is interested in buying an apartment in this city.

She was angry at being left alone at home.

He was sorry for giving them so much trouble.

He is used to living in hot country.

Lena was responsible for ordering food.

She is good at keeping secrets.

8. After word combinations:

E.g.

What’s the use of crying?

There was no point in going there.

We could not help admiring the figure-skater.

I find the book worth reading.

She can’t stand listening to this kind of music.

They have their own way of thinking.

I have difficulty in learning new words.

We decided to go to travel agency to find out more about the trips. Read the dialogue and comment on the usage of gerund.

- Good morning, sir. Can I help you?

- Yes, I’m interested in going on a holiday somewhere in the Caribbean. (gerund is used after adjective followed by preposition – to be interested in)

- OK. When would you like to travel?

- I fancy taking a trip in May.

- Very good, sir. Then I recommend you visiting the Bahamas for the first two weeks of May. (gerund is normally used after the verbs fancy and recommend)

- That’s interesting. But will I have to get there by boat?

- No, there is an airport there. However, you may take a boat, if you want to go touring around the islands. They are worth seeing.

(gerund is used after go for activities and after the word combination to be worth …)

- Sounds good, but I prefer travelling by air. Can I book and pay by credit card now?

(gerund is used after the verb to prefer to express general preference)

- Sure. Thanks for applying to our agency. (gerund is used after the verb followed by preposition – to thank for)

That`s all for today.

Join us at our grammar lessons at videouroki.net and you’ll realize that grammar is interesting.